15, No 17 Lessons -- Winding Down

15, N0 17 Lessons:

14. Build character and integrity into your life.

If you want to take a good look at this lesson, check out the story of Joseph in Genesis! You’ll love it. It is a great character study. Talk about a guy who knew what character and integrity was all about.

Here is some things I have gleaned about integrity:

“Integrity is completeness or soundness. You have integrity if you complete a job even when no one is looking. You have integrity if you keep your word even when no one checks up on you. You have integrity if you keep your promises. It is the absence of duplicity and is the opposite of hypocrisy. If you are a person of integrity, you will do what you say. What you declare, you will do your best to be. Integrity also includes financial accountability, personal reliability, and private purity. A person with integrity does not manipulate others. He or she is not prone to arrogance or self-praise. Integrity invites constructive and necessary criticism because it applauds accountability. It’s sound. It’s solid. It’s complete. Integrity keeps one from fearing the white light of examination or resisting the exacting demands of close scrutiny. It’s honest at all costs. Integrity is having the guts to tell the truth, even if it may hurt to do so. Integrity is having guts to be honest, even though cheating may bring about a better grade.

1.     Like excellence, integrity is a moving target.

“You cannot maintain your integrity 90 percent and be a leader. It’s got to be 100 percent.”  -- Executive Leadership Magazine

“One of the realities of life is that if you can’t trust a person at all points, you can’t trust him or her at any point.”  -- Philip Brooks

“Integrity means being consistent in one’s behavior under every circumstance including those unguarded moments.”  -- Henry Blackaby

2. Integrity begins with our own hearts.
“Surely You desire truth (integrity) in the inner self (heart), and You teach me wisdom deep within.” (Psalm 51:6)

“Our worth to God in public will always be determined by our own lives in private.” – Oswald Chambers

“If I am what I think, then the obvious conclusion is that I do what I think.” – Kenny Luck, Every Man, God’s Man

“When the mirror of truth is turned on a man, he will either face it or flee. If he chooses to flee, it’s because the reality of his life, with all its destructive behavior, seems too fearful to face head-on.”  -- Kenny Luck, Every Man, God’s Man

“Integrity is about having sound, moral character. It's having your heart in the right place. It means you won't compromise your principles for any reason, including the overpayment of travel reimbursement from your employer.”  --  Richard K. Biggs, Burn Brightly Without Burning Out

“A person of integrity shows no difference between who they are on the outside as opposed to what they are on the inside.  They are completed and not divided.”
        Wayne Hastings

I’ll share the rest tomorrow. Sorry for the delay! – Bill Welte is President & CEO of America’s Keswick

Team YOU: 2 Chronicles 10-12; Proverbs 30; John 11:30-57

Motivations: The three most important ingredients in Christian work are integrity, integrity, integrity. – Charles Colson

Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 6:18; Level 2: Ephesians 6:21-24

Powered Up:  If you can’t pray a door open, don’t try to pray it open. – Lyell Ryder.