OF GOD &
OF THE UPRIGHT
Integrity, the value of complete soundness, is the pivotal point upon which all other values, such as honesty, truthfulness, and purposeful intent, stand. God’s integrity is intact. If He should lie…even in one little white lie or be dishonest with anyone, God’s Word and His Covenant of Blessing would be broken forever, but He is just and fair with the just and the unjust man (Matthew 5:45). He is a God of judgment, and all of His works of judgment are perfect. He is a great God of truth and without iniquity. He is just and right (Deuteronomy 32:4). God tells men of His greatness: “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell Me, bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who has declared this (the salvation of Israel) from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed" (Isaiah 45:20-24). God and His Word will never change! He is always the same! Faithful and True! Honest and Respectful! Lover of men’s souls…His desire is that ALL men come into the knowledge of his Ways and be saved!God’s Word is full of instructions for men and women to be just, as He is just. The way of the just is uprightness of integrity. The Most High and Upright God weighs the path of the just (those that believe in Him and wear His garment of righteousness) and checks their motives. The upright man or woman waits to see the just judgment of Jehovah God upon the righteous and upon the wicked. The just man remembers God in the night and seeks Him early with “my spirit that is within me,” because when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. God says pray for your enemies and in that way the wicked who receives favor from you will be convicted of his unjust ways and learn just integrity and righteousness from you (Isaiah 26:7-10).What does it mean to be a person of integrity? Moral responsibility is developed from the conscious awareness of Christian moral goals, motives, and emotions, which is established by a clear conscious knowledge of moral rules and moral obligations. God has said, “To whomsoever much is given, of him much is required” (Luke 12:48). Christians not only must think with moral integrity but must also act responsibly with moral integrity.
Integrity for man is
- the integration of self with God’s holy Word of principle
- a maintenance of identity in truthfulness and faithfulness in godly traditions
- a standing for something higher than one’s self
- is moral purpose that causes honest and sincere action
- a virtue given by God to those who trust Him, obeying His commandment and precepts.
Some people, who have no clear sense of right and wrong, do not develop a moral self, or integrate morality within their self-identity. The destruction of family has gone a long way in destroying self-worth in individuals because they have nothing to identify with. In their own thinking, they seem lost, anxious, and without hope having no family ties with which to bind self-identity to themselves. Moral action must be consistent with moral obligation and comes from knowing clear, conscious knowledge of God and His moral rules. Our psychological well-being is related to this kind of certain knowledge and encourages positive moral affects. A person of moral integrity must also feel the moral emotions of guilt, shame, or regret when he or she fails to act consistently, according to his or her own convictions. This sensitivity allows a person to feel empathy and moral disgust. Yet, moral emotions can be separated from and even override the self’s fear of loss, especially in cases of self-sacrifice when doing the right thing fails to insure physical survival. A Christian with moral integrity can feel his conscience struggle and his heart become heavy in the face of sin in his or her life, but that person can repent before God and continue to lead a sanctified life offered in service to God and find hope and joy through the willingness to follow Christ, whatever the cost.Moral integrity is positively associated with well-being and negatively associated with anxiety. Integrity is associated with a sense of wholeness and balance and reflects a feeling of self-assured confidence that one is doing the right thing and that one has a purpose in life. Integrity, applied to a person, carries more than a sense of wholeness, because a person must have a clear identify of who he or she is “in Christ” to recognize what wholeness and soundness is. It carries more than a sense of perfection, because a person must have a godly standard against which “the person’s perfection” is measured. What is the measure of a man or woman? The true measure of a man can be seen in the “perfected saint of God,” the believer…who is perfected for the work of service to God in the ministry and who edifies the body of Christ in all moral actions of their life. The measure of a man or woman can be seen when the Body (all the saints) comes into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto “a perfect man,” unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (having been molded into the image of God by knowing and acting upon His Word). Then a man or woman of integrity will not be, like children, tossed to and from, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men with cunning craftiness that delights in deceiving godly people, but a man or woman of integrity will speak the truth in love and grow up into Him in all things, because Christ is the Head of the Church (saints), from whom the whole Body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the Body unto the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4). We are not to be like ungodly men and women who are ignorant of God’s truth and give themselves over to greediness, envy, and strife, but the Christian is to be renewed in the spirit of his mind by putting on the new godly “spirit” that is created by God in righteousness and true holiness.
Christians, do not let corrupt actions or evil communications proceed from your mouth. Don’t gossip, don’t slander, and don’t deceive others. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, malice, and evil speaking be put away from you, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you. Be followers of God and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. Don’t be filthy or foolish, but know that no unclean or covetous person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Walk circumspect before God in all holiness, knowing that ungodly people who continually disobey God will face and know God’s wrath [and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.] Prove what is acceptable and full of integrity with God. Redeem your time and do the work of the ministry. Be filled with the Spirit of God and follow Him in all things (Ephesians 5)!
posted by DIRECT TRUTH @ 6:57 PM 0 comments
posted by DIRECT TRUTH @ 6:57 PM
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