Does integrity permeate every area of your life? (135-1)

A leader’s integrity not only affects others on their team but also directly affects their own quality of life. Read Proverbs 11:3, 5, and 8.

The word integrity is taken from the word integer meaning one. A leader’s integrity allows them to be complete or undivided in their mind. When a leader’s mind is undivided stress is greatly reduced even in extremely stressful situations. And according to Proverbs 11:3 the exact opposite is true for those lacking integrity. I like the way verse three is worded in the Living Bible, “A good man (the leader with integrity) is guided by his honesty; the evil man (the leader lacking integrity) is destroyed by his dishonesty.”

If integrity can give this kind of positive benefit, the logical question is “What can I do to develop integrity or develop more consistent integrity?” The following is only a partial list but a good place to start:

• Find verses in the Bible that deal with integrity and find individuals, i.e. Samuel, who were know for their integrity and study their traits and truths. Adopt these truths for your life and strive to live out the actions related to the truths you discovered.
• Strive to become a trustworthy person. This takes consistent self-evaluation to determine if your actions proved less than trustworthy. When you fail, seek God’s forgiveness and start again. An intense desire and consistent course corrections will move you toward becoming a trustworthy leader of integrity.
• Face reality. When you succeed humbly acknowledge your success; and when you fail own up to the failure and strive to do better next time. Integrity involves honesty in success and failure.
• Deliver the promised results. Integrity means keeping your word to yourself and those closest to you and all others you gave your word to.
• Cultivate character. Honesty, morality and ethics are character elements that make up integrity.
• Face problems head on and seek to solve problems rather than avoiding them. Hiding from problems is a form of denial and dishonesty – the opposite of integrity.

Integrity requires consistent attention if it is to permeate every area of a leader’s life. 1Timothy 4:15-16 says, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”