Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
6 7 2023
Integrity What is a man? What makes a man?
I know a young 24-year-old man who recently blew a secret. And although it really spoiled a surprise another person had for a teenager. That was not where it really went bad. In trying to cover it up, he asked the teenager not to tell their Dad that the secret was out. And then hoped that would be the end of it. As you can guess that teenager did what any honest young person would. She told her dad.
Prov 11:3 “The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity”.
Sadly, an honest error, however painful, went from an honest misstep to a cover-up and excuses when the dad approached him. Dishonesty… an obvious exposure of a lack of character and integrity. But with that came more excuses, anything to keep the darkness away from the truth. What is also amazing is how easy it is to continue to deceive ourselves and not face the truth about who and what we are as a man. But even more importantly what you do with it!
It is the difference between walking alone vs having someone who has your back, even when it’s self-inflicted & bleeding. But even that may not be enough to save you from yourself. Because these are mistakes and embarrassments that cause men and women to hide and close up… not ask for advice or counsel. We naturally want to hide.
Proverbs 12:22 “ The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy”. OUCH
How many men who walk in honor and integrity, does one have in their life, who have the conviction and strength enough to speak the truth when we only desire to hide from it?
Proverbs 21:3 “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice”. The seeds that make us have everything to do with the seeds we plant. Seeds of honor, integrity, accountability, and faith. They are never ones that plant themselves or just appear. Neither are they ones that are typically learned in private.
Providence would have it, that her dad confronted him on his actions. His initial response was a cover-up. Thinking no one knew the truth but even as it unfolded excuses prevailed… anything to keep the light of truth…. out. How he should have immediately gone to her dad in humility and full transparency and said, I blew a confidence! I am so sorry. How can I help make this right? But now, darkness and lies have stolen the truth and trust, and respect. The self-inflicted wound was now deeper, more revealing, and in need of more serious surgery. It was amazing how much re-talking the events it took to break through his personal darkness and half-truths.
Integrity is a choice, as is our Faith in God! A person without integrity is a slave to impulses, circumstances, and the apparent easy road. Ps 41: 11 says “I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever”.
Integrity is a journey. It includes the wisdom of being personally accountable to others for our moral and spiritual development. It takes God and others to bring out the best in us. Hebrews 13 8: “Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way”.
So what does integrity mean to God? Dictionary.com defines it as “adherence to moral or ethical principles” … which as Christians, we would define as Biblical principles. Being authentic and honest in faith and honest with our fellow man is called integrity.
The Bible says in Proverbs 25:14, “People who promise things that they never give are like clouds and wind that bring no rain” (GNT).
So where does conviction come from and how loud is it? It comes from the Holy Spirit, it is an awareness of right and wrong. If our conscious is not very informed or has spent little time in God’s word that lays out the ultimate right and wrong then that sound may not be so loud as it is drowned out by our excuses and justification. But when we are not strangers to God that voice is much louder, often prompting us to confess and be restored to fellowship as the Spirit within
continues to grow us up in Christ.
Conviction exposes your inner values. It is that something within…the Holy Spirit, that conveys this strong belief that what we are doing or saying is right, honest, moral, or consistent with our deeper values. Hopefully, they are grounded in God’s word as you walk life in the center of a host of witnesses to the real truth of God.
Casting Crowns Voice of Truth
