There is a desirable human quality that is very scarce now. It is integrity. What is that exactly? It is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. Integrity comes form the Greek word integra meaning whole, as in the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So if someone uses the word integrity or something is named after that word I would think it is done to imply honesty, quality, wholeness. Does the person or entity live up to what they are implying? Not all the time is my experience.

Here is what I think and believe. It is summed up in this quote from Aging with Wisdom and Independence website blogger Linda Beckwith.

Socrates said that the key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.  Integrity in a person implies honesty and moral character.  It is better to have an enemy who keeps his word than a friend who does not.  It is doing the right thing when no one else is looking.

That is not an easy way to live. It can cost one a lot to be honest. I have been accused of being “too honest” whatever that means. I think it means that in the mind of the one who said that to me, honesty may be the best policy but it is certainly not the most profitable policy and if honesty gets in the way of making money or gaining power then put it aside.

I cannot do that. I fear the Lord my God, who sees my motives behind all that I do. Proverbs 19:1 says that it is better to be a poor man who walks with his integrity intact than be someone who is perverse with his lips and is a fool. My fear of God is based on how he would judge me if I did not treat people honestly, and live by the instructions he has give me, through his word, his Son, and through the ways I was raised. I don’t fear the Lord as someone who is just waiting around for me to make a mistake and knock me down for it.

My fear and respect for God is knowing that He is an awesome God, Creator and King of the Universe, who came to this earth in human form, and became a sacrifice as payment for all my sins and shortcomings. He loves me. He died for me, and rose from the dead for me. He gives me wisdom, guides me. He embraces my life, gives me purpose and meaning, so that I can have a really good reason to live.

That verse from Proverbs tells us that walking in integrity is one of the most important things we can ever do in our lives. Integrity means to be perfect, complete, blameless. It is an almost impossible thing to attain, but that should never keep us from striving to do it. I want to be an honest person, give no one the idea that I am perverse in speech.

I will continue to fear the Lord, for that fear, that respect, gives me wisdom, courage and a stronger desire to make wise decisions. I don’t fear the Lord because I am scared of him. I fear him and respect Him because he loves me and has given me a path in life. My prayer is that he will illuminate that path even during life’s darkest times. That path is going to lead me to life and freedom. I choose to walk it and I choose to do it in integrity.

Proverbs 19: 1-10

1 Better the poor man who walks in his integrity
    than a fool whose lips are perverse.

2 Desire without knowledge is not good—
    how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

3 A person’s own folly leads to their ruin,
    yet their heart rages against the Lord.

4 Wealth attracts many friends,
    but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and whoever pours out lies will not go free.

6 Many curry favor with a ruler,
    and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

7 The poor are shunned by all their relatives—
    how much more do their friends avoid them!
Though the poor pursue them with pleading,
    they are nowhere to be found.

8 The one who gets wisdom loves life;
    the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.

9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and whoever pours out lies will perish.

10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
    how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!