Integrity (Proverbs 19:1)

Integrity is a quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It was the very backbone of our nation. Notice I refer to it in the past tense.

"Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than the rich who is perverse in his speech and is a [self-confident] fool." Proverbs 19:1, Amplified

There is only one thing that a man can possess within himself that no one else can take. That is integrity. No one has the power to remove it from the grasp of anyone else. Integrity, however, can be given up.

What the Bible is stating here is that it is much better to be a man, or woman, of integrity than it is to be rich. Can a man of integrity have riches? Sure. Job was such a man. He was extremely rich and blessed on this earth until the Lord allowed for Satan to remove his possessions, then his family, then Job himself. Though Job came dangerously close to blasphemy, he kept his integrity and remained faithful to the Lord.

Nicodemus, being a Pharisee, was a man of means. He was also a man of integrity. At first he came under the cover of night to discuss the spiritual things with Jesus. Later he chose to stand against his peers. "Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them0 said to them, 'Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?'" (John 7:50-51, NKJV) Later he also took part in the burying of Jesus.

You see, nothing external can define who I am. But integrity exposes who I am. When faced with the opportunity to sin, my integrity (or lack of it) exposes who I am. Do you have integrity?

Who a Person Truly Is (Proverbs 17:7)

There are certain character traits that you will not see in certain people. For instance, you will never see a bum drinking his tea with his pinky out. And sometimes you will see certain character traits in people that disgust because you know they do not belong. Like the televangelist who his caught with his mistress.

"Fine or arrogant speech does not become [an empty-headed] fool; much less do lying lips become a prince." Proverbs 17:7, Amplified

An educated person. a person from wealth or an aristocrat has a certain air about them. Posh speech is a dialect of the upper class. However, when a fool tries to disguise himself and talk as they do, he just may be found out quicker than he expected. It reminds me of this old show I used to watch, in it was a clip of four children doing something but one of the four was doing something different. It begged the question, "One of these kids is doing his own thing, which one is it?" What the first half of the verse is trying to depict is that there are some who cannot lift themselves up to a higher place because of the definition of who he is. The man in the first half of the verse is a fool. Nowhere are we given the information that he is trying to change his situation only that he wants others to believe he is otherwise. Think of it like a hippo who desired to be a zebra. The hippo painted black and white stripes all over his body and began acting like a zebra. How many do you expect would be fooled by his outward transformation?

And then there are others who are in that higher place who debase themselves. In the second part of the verse we hear about lying lips on a prince. We never expected our President to lie about weapons of mass destruction just to encourage a war. It was not becoming of our President because he is supposed to be a man of integrity. The higher in society we are, the clearer people can scrutinize us. Think of it like trying to find one person in a crowded room. You may have a description of the particular person that you want, but the search will take a while. Now take that same crowded room and that same person, but have him stand on a chair. How much easier is it to find him? Integrity cannot afford lying lips or any other debasing characteristic.

Integrity (Proverbs 10:9)

Integrity is such a wonderful thing. So many different things in this life can have integrity. Even an inanimate object can have integrity. But when it comes to the human being it becomes something more. It describes a lifestyle.

"He who walks uprightly walks securely, but he who takes a crooked way shall be found out and punished." Proverbs 10:9, Amplified

The more I use the Amplified Version of the Bible, the more I begin to regret it. There is some language and phraseology that I have become accustomed to. In the New King James we read this verse a little differently. "He who walks with integrity walks securely..." It is the integrity of the Christian that I wish to focus on at the moment. By definition, integrity means, "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of being whole and undivided; the condition of being unified, unimpaired or sound in construction; internal consistency or lack of corruption in electronic data."

We must understand that the Christian who is walking in integrity is walking "undivided". As we walk in uprightness, there is a certain security that comes along with that. Being undivided means never having to look over your shoulder at who is coming after you. An undivided lifestyle means never having to cover your tracks. There should always be a certain security in our walk, not only of where we have been but where we are going to. What I mean is, this integrity of ours allows us to walk in such a fashion that we have complete faith in the Lord for our security. Being fired from a job does not disrupt the flow of the walk because there is security in every step knowing that the Lord is watching over us. Integrity naturally brings with it security.

However, the one who chooses the crooked path shall be found out and punished. Again, I have become used to a certain vernacular. In the New King James Version it reads, "...but he who perverts his way will become known." We need to understand that as we knowingly sin, it is a definite choice, a perversion of our path. I say "knowingly" because I feel that it is possible to walk outside the commandments of God without realizing it. One may not understand the ramifications of being a "talebearer", but when that knowledge does come a correction must be made in the life to ensure integrity. Perversion can only last so long behind closed doors. Eventually your secrets will become known. There is no security for the one who perverts his own may. The attributes of perversion do not include honesty, morality nor does it included a unification or soundness. Without integrity we are divided against ourselves and doomed for destruction.