Integrity is King

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool (Proverbs 19:1)

Integrity: when your BEHAVIOR matches your BELIEF

The past few weeks in student ministry, we have spoken on character and the words that should define us as Christ followers; Character, Integrity, Compassion, and Grit. Behavior tends to get a bad wrap in churches that preach grace. It takes the mature believer to see the delicate interplay between doing in grace, and resting in grace. While of course we do not achieve salvation by what we do but what was done, our behavior shows the pulse of our faith. When it matches our belief, then the Gospel is clear to the world around us. The author of Proverbs makes integrity the highest virtue of the believer.

While hyporcrites have never been popular, I believe today it is more important than ever for the Church to be transparent, not perfect, to earn the trust of a jaded generation.The beauty of the Gospel is that this burden of integrity rests solely on the shoulders of our Lord. Without his daily grace, we are incapable of living with the integrity needed to shine the light of Christ into the shaded corners of a fallen creation. Our own fallen nature is redeemed by our Father in order to draw us closer to his perfection. When we realize just how dark our own souls are, then we can fully recognize and rely on the steadfast integrity of the One who never changes.