It is often said that talent, skill and gifting may exalt you, but character is what will sustain and keep you up. Integrity is vital in your pursuit of purpose. Nehemiah 5:14-15 says, 'Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s provisions. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God'.
Nehemiah did not exploit people, he did not lay burdens on the people, because he feared God. He did not use his position for self enrichment, but walked in integrity. This is the essence of servant leadership. He was in his position to serve and not to be served.
The world is in dire need of men and women of integrity. John Maxwell has often said that talent alone is not enough. The tabloids are filled with many stories of people who reached stardom, only to fall flat due to scandals and lack of integrity. The church has uncountable pastors who rose due to their gifting, charisma and oratory abilities only to fall for lack of character and the fear of the Lord. Character is the bedrock of very human adventure.
The bible cautions, ' Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:7 NKJV). Do not sabotage your own purpose by walking in sin. Repent and turn away from your wicked ways. Do not sacrifice your dreams at the altar of sinfulness.
In Hebrews chapter 11 the bible talks about the heroes of faith who accomplished great things in their walk with God. And in Hebrews 12 v 1, we are encouraged as follows, ' Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,'. Clearly if we are to run our race successfully we need to lay aside whatever hinders and sins that entangles and frustrate our progress. Without integrity we are hindered and halted. Have you ever seen an athlete running with weights and burdens on his shoulder? Even worse, have you ever seen an athlete running with entangled feet? Yet we suppose we can run our races and pursue our purposes without character and integrity.
With regard to walking in integrity and the fear of God, there are three areas that we need to pay attention to.
1. Honesty and truthfulness
Sadly, the truth is a rare commodity nowadays. The bible says, 'Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another,' (Ephesians 4:25 NKJV). Can we commit to stop the lies as people of God? Can we return to the days when our word was our bond? The good thing about speaking the truth is that you don't have the burden of trying to remember what you said last time. A lie has a very short life span as it will be exposed sooner or later. May God help us to speak the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
2. Sexual morality
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. (I Corinthians 6:18 NKJV). Sexual immorality is both fornication and adultery. Fornication is sex between the unmarried, and adultery is sex between a married person and a person who is not his/her spouse. In whatever case, it is best to flee sexual immorality. When left with a choice between fight or flight, you will do well to take a flight. Learn from Joseph in Gen 39 V 7 - 12, he ran away from the advances of Potiphar's wife.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral (Hebrews 13:4 NIV). Let us return to the Word and show honor to the institution of marriage. Marriage is sacred before God, let us not trample it under foot, 'for God will judge the adulterer...'
Here is the question, who will deliver you if God judges you for adultery and sexual immorality?
1 Timothy 5:1-2 counsels us on how we ought to behave in the Church of God, 'Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
3. The love of money
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I Timothy 6:10 NKJV)
The fist law of bible interpretation is to read what is written without adding or subtracting. This verse quoted above is often abused by those who don't have money and misused by those who have money. There is a clear difference between 'money is a root of all kinds of evil' and 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil'. The scripture cautions us not about money but the love thereof. Money has no problems, the issue is how you acquire it. Are you making an honest living or are you willing to steal, kill and destroy to acquire money? Do you love money so much that you are willing to commit all kinds of evil to acquire it?
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24 NIV).
We are not meant to serve money but to serve God. God has no problem with you having money, He has a problem with money having you. If money is your god, then the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil for you. You will do whatever it takes to acquire money. But if God is your God, then the love of God is the root of all kinds of good for you. The love of God will compel you to do good.
Child of God, money makes a lousy god. Conversely, 'The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it,' (Proverbs 10:22 NKJV).
Therefore, when it comes to gods, and who you should serve and devote to, I recommend Jesus.
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