A Person Of Integrity, Sin of Achan
Tonight Pastor B. spoke on integrity. Actually, his message was titled "A Person of Integrity". When it comes to plagiarism, I'm among the best, so I'll just quote his handout, which has some quotes by Warren Wiersbe and Stewart Brisco, and some good things to consider. Here it is...A Person Of Integrity
According to the dictionary, integrity means - uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
Several quotations
Integrity is to personal or corporate character what health is to the body or 20/20 vision to the eyes. A person with integrity is not divided (that's duplicity) or merely pretending (that's hypocrisy). He or she is "whole"; life is "put together" and things are working together harmoniously. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. (W. Wiersbe)
Integrity results when things are integrated - when such things as belief and behavior fit together and coincide. For instance, business integrity means that the businessman delivers on what he promises and stands by what he says. Promise and performance match each other. {S. Briscoe)
Are you a person of integrity? Some of the characteristics of a person of integrity -
1. Honesty
2. Keeping our word - making sure we fulfill what we have promised.
3. Handling our money in the correct, honest manner.
4. Simply obeying what God's Word has to say.
He also had us look at quite a few verses from Proverbs, that relate to integrity; I'll post just a few of them.
Proverbs 14:5
A truthful witness does not deceive,
but a false witness pours out lies.
Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
Proverbs 12:19
Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Proverbs 11:1
The LORD abhors dishonest scales,
but accurate weights are his delight.
Proverbs 12:22
The LORD detests lying lips,
but he delights in men who are truthful.
Proverbs 21:3
To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
It's interesting that this was his topic tonight, because it actually came up in youth group recently. I was teaching from Romans 12:9, where we are told to "abhor what is evil". Abhor means to despise, even to be repulsed by something. Unfortunately we often let evil kind of creep in, because it's easy and/or convenient.
So we talked about temptation to do evil, and I mentioned a couple temptations that face people in my kind of business, for example, the temptation, when I tell someone I think it'll cost X dollars to do a project, and then it only costs Y, to still charge them X, because I know they're willing to pay it. Or the temptation, when I'm falling behind on a software project, and I'm not going to make a deadline, to start making "excuses", instead of simply telling the truth.
The idea of "abhoring evil" means that the thought of doing one of those things should be abhorent to me, I should be repulsed by the very thought of it. Unfortunately, it's very easy to embrace what is wrong, and then we are on a slippery slope from which we may never recover. As the Book Of Proverbs says: "the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity."
Did you ever think of Achan in those terms? Destroyed by his own duplicity. When the Israelites defeated Jericho, they were supposed to destroy everything, but Achan kept some stuff back for himself, and hid it under his tent. He thought no one knew, but of course, God did, and then came that morning when God started with the whole nation, and picked out Achan's tribe. Then picked out Achan's extended family, and then picked out Achan's household, and then finally, picked out Achan. Can you imagine how that man must have felt, knowing that he had been found out, and watching the finger of judgment coming closer and closer? Can you imagine the terror, and the gnawing ache in the pit of his stomach as his judgment drew closer?
Of course you can. We all can. Because we've all been there to one degree or another. Caught doing something wrong, and wishing there was some way out of the mess we got ourselves in. How much better to live with integrity!
On a related, more personal note (and most of you won't know what this is in reference to) - Pastor B's advice was the same advice as the other two pastors I asked. Of course, with the information I have now, I can't follow through on that advice, but at least I'm more confident of heading in the right direction. And if that didn't make sense to you - don't worry about it!
Posted On Aug 7, 2005 at 5:44 PM
On Aug 7, 2005 BackStage wrote: This pastor advises the same thing...
Now you're up to four.
Doug Replied: Thanks.
On Aug 8, 2005 Mr. Physics wrote: The world says, "Can I get away with it?"
The nominal Christian says "Is it legal?"
We should be saying, "Is there anything about this that I can't visualize Christ doing?" There are many things that are legal, but do not measure up to God's standards.
Doug Replied: very well said. I was interested last night to hear Pastor B. talk about ethics...being "ethical" and being "legal" can be completely different; something can be legal yet be completely unethical.
|
Doug's Random ThoughtsEverything from Soup to Nuts,And Maybe Even More! ABOUT ME Current PostsBlog Is Moving...Emergency Room Last Entry Join The Chorus Jeorge Sings A Hymn 
|