Integrity of Heart

Integrity is based on the word “integer” which means a whole number or a complete unit. Integrity means wholeness and a double standard. A person with integrity is a whole person, and undivided person. This is someone who is the same person at the office and in church; someone who is the same person in private as well as in public. Jesus the Messiah was a Man of integrity. He was not two-faced or uneven while representing both earthy humanity and His Heavenly Father.

I have just thought of something! One other way to view “integrity” is to consider the way a civil engineer would when speaking of a building with “structural integrity”. This kind of integrity keeps the building strong and safe. Faults in structural integrity are revealed under pressure or unusual stress. A few years ago there was a major earthquake in Taiwan. Many people were killed and injured when the quake caused hundreds of reinforced concrete buildings to suddenly collapse. The shattered buildings revealed that some had been built with large, empty metal cans inserted into columns and beams where there should have been solid concrete. Structural integrity had been sacrificed for profit. How many of our lives have empty spaces where there should be something solid and strong? When we speak the Word of God, are we building a house of faith that will stand up under stress?

Believers are people of truth. We should never fear that speaking the truth in love will cause us to fail. The opposite is true. I have found that while we often do need wisdom regarding how and when to speak the truth, God will never forsake the righteous in heart. He is a shield of protection for the one whose life is committed to the Word of God. Integrity, however, is more than simple honesty in business. It is more than “doing the thing right.” Integrity means keeping out commitments, whether it is a matter between us and God (such as tithing) or in relationship with our fellow human beings.

Integrity requires a lifestyle of worship and prayer that under binds all business and ministry activities. Worshiping God draws us into a place of intimacy with Him. In our inward, personal life with the Lord that is carried forward by trusting in Him, we learn to stand before God and man in honesty. He sends us forth from the holy meeting place of prayer ready for whatever kind of works our calling demands. Through prayers and the Word of God, we receive wisdom, grace and moral understanding to deal with tough decisions. Through prayer and the wholeness of integrity, we receive courage from the Spirit to act on what God has shown us to be the right path for our lives.