WF Pride

Integrity

Chad Cottingham

In southern California, a man and the woman went through a KFC drive through and ordered a chicken dinner for two. It was handed to them and they drove off. Come to find out, the man who was filling their order had taken a box where they had emptied the proceeds from one of the cash registers. There was over $800 in cash in that. And that was the box handed to the man who went through the drive-thru. Well, the manager was beside himself. He said, “We’ll never see that money again.”

When the couple stopped for their picnic and opened it up, he realized there had been a mistake. And the man closed the box, drove back to the chicken place, and said, “There’s been a mistake, we got a box full of money.” The manager was so impressed. He said, “That’s fantastic! I never thought I’d see it again.” He said, “Let me call the newspaper. I want your picture made, a picture of the most honest man in town.” The man said, “No, I can’t do that. I can’t do that.” He said, “No, no, we really need a picture of the most honest man in town.” Finally, the fellow took the manager over to the side and said, “You don’t understand.” He said, “The woman I’m with is not my wife. I don’t want my picture made.”

Integrity means truth characterizes your whole life. It is to let every area of your life be governed by God’s truth. Now Jesus is our perfect example in every regard, isn’t he? “They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You sincerely teach the ways of God’ Mark 12:14 ~ NLT. Jesus didn’t let men decide what was going to be true today. Jesus let God decide what was going to be true every day. That same Lord taught “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” Luke 16:10 ~ NLT.

Integrity defines and shapes your character and nobody takes your character from you. They may take your money, they may take your job, they may take your reputation, they may take your fame, and they may even take your life, but they cannot take your character. You’re the only one who can throw that away. Excerpts taken from The Bibleway Online: Men of Integrity

“Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, help us to be men and women of integrity. Help us to develop our character to be more and more like You in every aspect of our lives. It’s in Jesus name I pray, Amen.”