Have Integrity, Demand Accountability, & Expect Storms Before The Sun Comes Out
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.’ (Proverbs 11:3)
Proverbs 11 is full of excellent verses dealing with integrity. Integrity is best described as ‘doing the right thing, even if no one else – or everyone else – is watching’. We find in our world today that not many people are willing to do this, especially it seems in terms of our nation’s leadership where it appears there are many empty words among loud noises while nothing is done.
It is true that when those who are unfaithful or secular do wrong, the Righteous often suffer along with them at first. The exile of Israelites to Babylon took both away from their homeland. However, we see the results of the Righteous eventually winning out, through efforts of the Righteous including Daniel and Nehemiah, and they were after 70 years able to return home. Like the wandering in desert by the Exodus-from-Egypt Israelites that took 40 years, the Righteous and the unrighteous both suffered but the Righteous won out as the impurity of the unfaithful was weeded out, and they were able to enter Canaan (though Moses could not).
Today we find not only in our government but our scholastic institutions, our businesses, and even some churches do not have the integrity of Christ’s Righteousness. We often do not speak up because we are of the mindset of ‘it won’t make a difference’ or ‘Jesus is coming soon to Rapture His Church anyway’. This is not having integrity or doing right by others for others. It will make a difference if we reach out to hold our institutions accountable, for our churches not to be secular-leaning but be fully bought-in to the Lord’s will and follow the Scripture. We need to demand accountability in our voting systems, for the laws of our nation to be followed, and for Christians to follow Christ.
Integrity requires boldness and the will to stand for Righteousness, even when the numbers are against us. Speak up and stand up in Truth, even if no one sees or no one ever says ‘thanks’, because the Truth is the Lord sees and the Lord is pleased when we do the right thing. In the end, whether it is through a temporary trial during our mortal time on Earth, or as we stand with Him in Eternal glory, our integrity will allow us to continue on, while the unfaithful – the unrighteous – will once again and forevermore be weeded out.
