A Life Of Integrity

Integrity.... I was pondering on what exactly that word meant?

So, I looked it up in Webster’s Dictionary and here's their definition:

Integrity: the quality or state of being; complete, unbroken condition, wholeness, unimpaired, perfect condition, soundness. The quality or state of being of sound moral principal, uprightness, honesty, sincerity.

Very interesting.... What exactly does it mean to live a life of integrity? You hear that statement made by all kinds of people... You should live a life of integrity. How do we do that?

I think it would be safe to say that to live a life of integrity we would need to be the same person where ever we are and in what ever we are doing. We would need to wear the belt of truth and be transparent in who we are. We are not to live our life any way we feel like it. We are not to sin all week, and then put on our "I'm a good and righteous Christian" mask on Sunday. We are to wear the same face all week, no mask, just us, living for Christ the best we can. We are not to come to church, dieing inside, only to shake hands and smile as if nothing is wrong. We are to be true to who we are, unashamed of our imperfection. We are all in the same boat, wretched, without the blood of Christ. We are ALL a dysfunctional mess without Him.

We are to be complete, in unbroken condition, whole and unimpaired. The only way we are going to be this way is through life in the Holy Spirit. It is through acceptance of Christ that we are restored and given the Holy Spirit to live within us. It is through the renewing of our minds that we are repaired. We must live a life that is continually renewing ourselves. By immersing ourselves in the word of God we are changed. Our mind is cleansed of our old ways of thinking and renewed with His way of thinking. The broken parts become unbroken, the impaired parts get fixed and we become whole.

Romans 12:2 says And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

It is through this process, we transform; we metamorphose into the creation we were intended to be. The same kind of metamorphosis that a caterpillar has into a butterfly, we are to have from our worldly self into our Godly self. As our minds are renewed by the word of God we are then changed internally. From those changes we become upright, honest, sincere and of sound moral principals. We begin to live a life of integrity. That kind of life makes us worthy of the kingdom that we are assured to inherit. The inheritance of life in the Kingdom of God.

But here is the catch.... To even begin to live this kind of life, we must renew ourselves through the reading of the word, prayer and time with God everyday. We must empty ourselves of self and fill ourselves with Christ. Yes, we are to live continually in the spirit, but as D. L. Moody would say, "we leak". So we must continually fill ourselves back up.

We are to live a life of Integrity, one worthy of the sacrifice that was made for us. A life worthy of the sacrifice made on the cross of Calvary.