Integrity

This verse caught my eye, or perhaps my heart.  It was my verse of the day today from the handy Bible Android app I use (www.YouVersion.com).  (Side note:  my not-so-handy Android Blogger app keeps crashing so I've rewritten this 5 times!)

Proverbs 28:6 NKJV
Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.

In a society awash in mediocrity, ready to sugar-coat scandal, slingers of spin, where a little white lie doesn't matter unless your caught, in a society devoted to success at any cost, where status is based on wealth and appearance rather than accomplishments or character, this statement kinda makes you go, "Huh..."

Some days it's hard to remember that your actions speak louder than words.  Integrity & character go hand-in-hand along with honesty, truthfulness, principles, and being incorruptible (this sounds like a great group of superheroes... can you tell I have boys?)

I like the blurb from Wikipedia:  Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions.... The word "integrity" stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete).[2] In this context, integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character."

Ralph Waldo Emerson was attributed with saying it best: "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."  It doesn't matter what you say or how much you have... if you're lacking integrity, you don't have anything!  A reputation soiled is hard to repair and you can lose it all if your thought to be lacking basic prinicples or honesty.  

Here's a quote from Harper Lee in To Kill A Mockingbird:  ...before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”   It doesn't matter what's popular, it doesn't matter how the rest of society lives, when you ponder upon your own integrity, is your conscience clean?  Do your actions and beliefs align?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Monday: 2013

Stocking Stuffers: The Book Worm

Charming Ribbon Bookmark Knockoff