#4 - Having no Integrity
Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God” Matt 5:8 . We are to be clean in heart. There should be no impurity in us. We should be free from a mixture of what is false or not genuine; blameless and innocent and unstained. I can hear the passion in Paul's voice when he tells of his prayer in Philippians 1:9-11: "And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” As we apply Paul's prayer to our lives, his prayer for us would be that our love would grow, that we would be in the Word and with the Father, so that we would be able to know what was pure. He would also want us to be filled with the result of righteous living in order that God be praised and glorified to the extent that everyone one else could see it in order to make a kingdom difference. This was the purity that Jesus spoke of. It is the purity that allows us to see God and allows others to see God in us.
Another way to look at purity is integrity. Integrity is something that comes from the inside and reaches to the outside. Integrity is the essence of purity. Integrity is when beliefs, morals, and ethics are integrated and are one. It is our character and who we really are. Anything we do that does not line up with what we say we believe causes us to lack integrity. Without purity and integrity, others will not be able to understand the message of Christ in today's world.
Consistency would be one aspect of integrity. When we are consistent with what we say we believe and what how we live out that belief, then we have integrity. Consistency between what we say we believe and what we do is so important. I have said it many times that if I could boil it all down to one thing my parents did right, it was that they were consistent. What they said they believed on Sunday, they lived out on Monday. The lack of consistency and integrity messes up lives. Perfection is not what the world is looking for; but most people are looking for those with integrity who seek to be pure and holy vessels for God. People are drawn to those who they can trust and who try to live out what they believe. When our lives are clear of the debris, then we are about to make a difference in the world where God has placed us.
Today's blog taken from Women Leading Women, The Biblical Model for the Church, chapter 5 written by Jaye Martin.
