What is integrity? Is it not smoking, swearing and not hanging out with those that do? What’s the gauge by which we measure?
It surely is not judgment.
Seems to me that integrity these days is the person with the strongest conviction that they are right.
By whose standards are they right?
If you use a standard outside of God, isn’t it all just a crapshoot? You can make anything a piece of integrity with no predictability.
Integrity today seems to sit with the person that has the strongest ability to judge the guy next to them. That’s not integrity, that’s being a bully.
I’m a Christian. That word has so many meanings and connotations that I don’t like to use it anymore. It’s been colored and tainted by folks who represent a form of godliness but don’t know God at all. So, instead I just say, “I have a strong faith. I’m a Jesus girl.”
As a Jesus girl, I find integrity to be this.
Not casting a stone of judgment on the person next to me. I can speak truths without judgment. The essence of integrity is the art of learning and seeing yourself. When I hit a wall of insurmountable frustration, shame, or guilt, I call out to my Savior and tell Him I need a good dose of his help.
I spent so much wasted time focusing on the sins and behaviors of other people. “God, if they’d stop doing that,” my life would be better. “Father, did you see what that person just did? That’s not ok.”
When I get to my heavenly home one day, God is not going to be asking me about anybody other than myself. They can tell Him about who they are, that’s not my job. My job is to find myself, tell my story, and help the next person tell their story.
That’s integrity to me.