Integrity in the Life of the Believer

In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on In Touch, integrity in the life of a believer. Do the people who really know you see you as a person of integrity? That is, when they think about you, they think of honesty, truthfulness, uprightness, reliability, trustworthiness, do they see all of these qualities within you? When they think about you, everybody thinks something about all of us. Do they see you as a person of integrity? Because you see, integrity involves all of that. Sincerity, uprightness, truthfulness, honesty, reliability, trustworthiness, all of those things are involved in being a person of integrity. And so, the question is, when they think about you, whatever else they may think about your looks and what you wear and what you drive and where you live, do they think about you as a person of integrity? Well, think about it this way. Your integrity is at the core of who you are. It's not how you look necessarily. It's not what you wear. It's not what you drive and where you live or how much you have. It's who you are on the inside. Are you trustworthy? Are you reliable? Do you tell the truth? Are you the kind of person that if you say something, your friend knows or whoever it might be knows that they can

rely upon that, that you're going to do your best to make it come to pass? Because you see, you and I live in a society where truthfulness for most part doesn't seem to matter anymore. For example, we all talk about listening to the media and saying, well, I heard what they say. Did they tell the truth? We don't know whether they did or not. Because so often we find out that it's not the truth. It's partial knowledge. When you listen to the politicians talk, do you have real confidence that they're men and women of integrity? Because so much of what we hear is compromise here and compromise there. And when you read the newspaper or the magazines, do you or can you even believe what you read? Because you see, truthfulness doesn't seem to matter in many people's hearts anymore. You just tell it like you see it. And as one reporter said, truth is what I say it is. Well, truth isn't necessarily what somebody says it is. And so, the whole issue of integrity is a major issue in the eyes of God. Saying what you mean, mean what you say. Put it all on the table. Not saying one thing with your lips, but deep down inside you're saying something else down here. And so, the question is, well, is it important to God? It is very important to God.

And I want you to turn, if you will, to the 15th Psalm. And it's very evident that our integrity is important to God, not only personally, but nationally and in every other aspect in our business, in our relationships. Integrity is extremely important. In this 15th Psalm, the title of this message is Integrity in the Life of the Believer. And the reason I want to say in the life of the believer is because in the eyes of the world, people who are not Christian, you know, they just think, well, I can say what I want to say, depends on whether it profits me or not. Integrity doesn't seem to be as important to many, many people as it is in the eyes of God and certainly should be in the life of every believer. So, in this 15th Psalm, listen to what he says. O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? Which is referring to who is it that can live in a close relationship with You, God? He who walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart. The way we walk, the works we do, and what are the truth expressions out of our heart. Out of the heart proceeds what we really are. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend. That is, a person who is a real friend, a true neighbor, is not going to say one thing and do something else,

make some implication, but not mean really what they say. And he says, in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, that is a person who does not want God in their life whatsoever. A person of integrity is able to acknowledge that, see that, separate themselves from that. Doesn't mean they dislike the person, but it's their lifestyle, whoever they may be. But one who honors those who fear the Lord. A person of integrity will honor those who fear the Lord, recognizing that God is God. He swears to his own hurt and does not change. That is, for example, a person of integrity is willing to suffer the consequences of wrongdoing or saying the wrong thing, making amends if necessary, even if it causes them hurt. Does not put out his money at interest, which in those days there were certain times they could do it and certain times they could not. Certain people they could charge interest and certain people they could not. Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent, which is being dishonest, lacking integrity. And here's what he says. He who does these things, lives this kind of lifestyle, will never be shaken. A person of integrity will never be shaken. So when you read that passage of Scripture, it's very evident that in the eyes of God, our integrity is very, very important.

It's the way we live. It's who we are. It's who we are seen as other people view us. They see us as persons of integrity. And I'll say this several times, who are reliable, trustworthy, sincere, upright, honest. We tell the truth. We say what we mean. We mean what we say. We keep our promises to the best of our God-given ability. We can say what you see is what you get. And so when you look at this passage of Scripture, it's very evident. He says, if you want to live in a close relationship to God, he who walks with integrity, works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart. So what you have to ask is this question, the people who really know me, really know me deep down inside, do they see me as a person of integrity or do they say, well, you know, I know what she said, but I've had enough experience with her or with him to know that maybe they will, maybe they won't. I'm not, you know, I've heard them say all kinds, I'm not sure they're telling the truth or, in other words, you don't want to be the kind of person whose integrity is questioned, whether you're truthful, honest, reliable, trustworthy, sincere. And you see, nobody wants a conversation with insincerity. Nobody wants to listen to a person who's insincere about what they're doing in life because what it does, it creates distrust. And distrust is a part of the core value within us, that is,

what are we really like? Are we trustworthy or not trustworthy? It doesn't mean being sinless, it doesn't mean being perfect, but it means deep down inside, we want to be truthful and honest about what we say and about the way we go about it. For example, you don't want to buy something that three months later or before you get home, you've got a problem. Or you find out, well, that's not the truth. He sold you a bill of goods, whatever that may mean. It's dishonest. We can be dishonest. If we leave somebody the impression, for example, if you sell someone an automobile and you know that you have a major problem and you paint it up, and I mean, man, you've glossed it all up and it's looking the best it's ever looked, in fact. And you've polished the tires and you've shined up the hubs and, I mean, everything. It sounds like it's just buzzing. You know when you sold it to them. You told them these are good cards, it's taken me all this many miles. And listen, you've told them a lot of truthful things, but you left out, this carburetor is not worth a hoot. This is just not going to work. Oh, this is not right. In other words, you know you didn't tell them the full truth. You lied. You were deceptive. That, listen, what does that do?

It strikes at your integrity. It strikes at who you are that you, listen, that you violated a simple principle of the Word of God. And what is that? Treat others the way you want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Jesus couldn't have said anything that encompassed so much of our relationship is that simple verse and that simple phrase. You treat somebody the way you want to be treated. And to treat them otherwise is to be a counterfeit, is not to be absolutely honest. And what it does, it weakens your conscience. It weakens your very character. And so, when you think about what is integrity, it's at the core of our life. It's extremely important to us because it affects us in lots of ways, whereas also it affects other people. Now, the question is this, how do we lose our integrity? How do we lose it? It's very simple. We compromise the truth. We tell partially or we leave innuendos or we manipulate. There are lots and lots of ways, but it begins with compromising the truth at some point. And then a person who lies and God doesn't strike them dead, they do it again and again and again and again. And for some people, it's a way of life. You know why it's a way of life? Because it appears, watch this carefully.

It appears... to them that they got by with it. They can tell this one little lie, and that one little lie, and this one little lie, and that one little lie. And when we come to the consequences, I want to show you how absolutely devastating that is. And to as many people, just telling whatever they want to tell that makes them look good, or whatever it might be, is ultimately very devastating. And so, when you think about how we lose it, we lose it simply by compromising the truth. Then after what happens, we look and God doesn't strike us dead, then we just begin to rationalize. Well, I mean, after all, you know, I told them enough, or I think that's really all I owe them at this point. That's not what integrity is about. Integrity is about being able to say what we need to say, do what we need to do, be trustworthy, reliable, dependable, sincere in every area of our life. Now, what are the consequences? Now, here's something that's so very important, because many people think about it in this light. They say, well, you know, I lied. Nobody seemingly knows the difference, and only I know the difference, and God and I. But usually they don't, when people lie, they don't usually say, only God and I know, because they'd like to eliminate that part, if at all possible, and just talk about what they know. So, it appears they got by with it.

Now, the consequences of lying isn't God's immediate judgment. Watch this very carefully. Here is the deceptive thing about a lack of integrity. The deceptive thing about a lack of integrity is the first consequence. Nobody sees this. But what it does, it begins to erode your, listen, your own sense of self-esteem. When a person begins to lie, it starts them down a road of erosion of their inner being, of what they think about themselves, how they see themselves, and while they might not ever tell anyone else, and while no one else may ever know the truth, but you, deep down inside, something is going on. And that something, listen, is the disintegration of your core being. It's what you are. It's who you are. Lack of integrity and lack of truthfulness and lying and manipulation and deception starts you down a road where who you are becomes more and more fate. And not only that, here's what happens. You become less, watch this carefully, you become less and less capable of dealing with situations and circumstances in life because you've lied so many times. You've lied to yourself. You've tried to deceive yourself. You've left God out of these decisions. You're not trusting Him. Then what happens? It begins to cave in.

And so, one of those consequences, one of the major consequences is that it begins, listen, it begins to erode, erode on the inside. I want you to turn to, look, if you will, in, look in Proverbs chapter two for a moment. Look in Proverbs chapter two, and listen, look at this passage, if you will. You see, people when they don't trust God, then they're going to say things they should not say, do things they should not do, and try to cover up all kind of stuff. And so, what I want you to notice here is this, look at this, seventh verse of this second chapter of Proverbs. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. Listen, God is a shield. And so, we can trust Him when we get in those difficult times and the truth is hurtful, and the truth is painful, and we have to face it. But first of all, it erodes our sense of self-esteem. Then, of course, there's the whole issue of guilt. When you do not tell the truth and you're dishonest, you're going to feel it inside. Any believer, any believer, every single believer has the Holy Spirit inside of us. And when we do what is wrong, when we, listen, when we lie, do not tell the truth or manipulate circumstances, the Spirit of God's going to convict us. You say, well, I know I've been saved, but to tell you the truth, I've been lying a long time in my life, and I don't feel any big problem.

Then you really are in danger because what you've done, you've done it so long you have dulled the edge of your conscience. And what started off as a strong ringing bell now hardly makes a whisper because nobody called you up to this point. What I want you to see is this, the destruction oftentimes begins on the inside. Nobody else may see it, but something is happening to you, and guilt will come. What? After a while, by losing your integrity, you become incapable of listening. What it does, it robs you. It robs you of the ability to deal with circumstances in life because a lot about this and a lot about that. And you know, what is the truth? And shall I, in other words, what happens is you find yourself in confusion. And the Holy Spirit will remind you of what's true. But now you've come to the place that you have dealt with so many issues in your life by telling what is untrue. Now it's difficult for you to deal with the issue with truthfulness because it's been so long. And now you, it's almost, you're incapable of doing what you know is the right thing. Why? Because you have disintegrated part of the core of your life, the value inside of you, of who you are, a person of notable excellence. That's what God had in mind, a masterpiece from God,

a person of notable excellence. And what have you done? Degrees by degrees by degrees, something has happened. And now one of the consequences, there's no peace. And when the no peace and the no fulfillment and the no contentment gets strong enough, you do something to appease all that. A little drink here, a little drink there, just like the beginning of the line. Next thing, when the drinking won't work, get on drugs. Next thing you know, you're hooked and you're an addict. And you say, well, how did all that start? It started with eroding your core value of a person of integrity. You no longer know who you are. And so little by little, something has happened deep down inside. Then here's what you'll notice. Watch this carefully. One of the consequences of a person who loses their integrity, they like to boast of it. Well, don't, are you questioning my integrity? And I still remember a fellow walking into my office downtown. We were down there and I said something to him. And I remember exactly where he was standing in the door. He said, why? You're questioning my integrity. I thought, well, I didn't have that in mind. I just asked you why you did something

that I thought was very, very unwise. Now watch this carefully. When a person continually boasts of their integrity, mark it down, they're covering up. Because you see, if you're honest, you don't go around saying, I'm honest, I'm honest, I'm honest, you can trust me, I have integrity. Oink, oink, oink, oink, oink, you know, none of that kind of stuff. Because that's about how much it's worth. You know, it's worth nothing. If you've got it, you don't have to tell anybody. What does the Bible say? Let others speak well of you. Let other people speak well of you. If they can't, then there needs to be a change. And so what happens is it all begins to catch up with you. And naturally, one of the consequences is we become estranged from God. Does that mean you're lost? No, it doesn't mean that lying and deception makes you lost. But here's what it does. Remember what this passage says? Lord, who may abide in your tent, dwell in your holy hill? That's a closeness with Him. Who can have a close relationship with you? And what happens is when a person lacks integrity, and when they deal with life on a level that is beneath trustworthiness, sincerity,

honesty, and integrity, what happens is their relationship with God is hindered. And it's the same way, for example, a husband and wife, the most intimate relationship on earth. When a wife or a husband can no longer trust each other, it doesn't make a difference what he or she gives the other one. It doesn't make a difference where they go, what they do, what they have, where they live, what they wear. You know what? There's something deep down inside that it's not all one anymore. And so it is with God. It wouldn't make a difference how much money you gave Him, how many times you went to church, how many times you read the Bible. You know what? Till you deal with those things that need to be dealt with, there's always going to be that estrangement. And then one last consequence I'd give, self-destruct. Self-destruct. A person can destroy their life by making a decision after decision, after decision, after decision, and refuse to be honest with themselves. And when I think of this, sometimes I could just weep when I think about some people that I've loved and do love, will not deal with reality. What is the truth about me? What is God trying to say to me? You see, remember this, God's not our enemy.

God is our Lord. And He has planned the best life for every single one of us. He desires the best for us. But if I won't look at where I am, and if I'm not willing to see myself as I really and truly am, if I'm not willing to be honest with myself, if I'm not willing to recognize I'm lying about myself, I'm lying about this, I'm being deceptive. And you see, when a person is deceptive, they become masters, so to speak, at convincing other people that they're right. But discerning people know the difference. Discerning people know the difference. And the consequences are devastating. This is why parents need to say to their children very early in life, tell the truth. Telling the truth is godly. Telling the truth is what Jesus did. Telling the truth is what Jesus would have you to do. Telling the truth is the right thing. Even if it hurts, that's what He said in this passage. He says, for example, in this passage, He swears to His own hurt, that is, He tells the truth even though it hurts Him. Yeah, I did that. Yeah, I said that. No, I didn't do it. I know I told you I would, but no, I didn't. In other words, the consequences are devastating. Now, what we want to ask at this point is, how do we maintain our own integrity when there are people all around us who don't even think it's that important? They don't even know what the word means.

It's not in their vocabulary. How do we maintain that? Well, I want you to think about it. First of all, you have to decide what your convictions in life are. Now, think about this. All of us believe something about everything. Now, there may be a few things in life you say, well, I don't know what I believe about that. But when it comes to living daily in our life, we know what we believe. Sometimes I think people really don't know exactly what they believe, but they operate on the basis of what they think is okay right now. But we all need a set of convictions. That is things that, watch this carefully, things that are non-negotiable. Let me ask you this. In your belief system, is this a negotiable doctrine that you can be saved by good works? In other words, you don't need Jesus. You don't need Jesus to be saved. Is that a negotiable doctrine? How many of you are not sure? There shouldn't be any question about that. In other words, the virgin birth, non-negotiable. Yes, it's the truth. God, there's one true God, non-negotiable. In other words, we could just go right down the list of doctrinal things.

But then we could spread from doctrines to how we live. What are our convictions about how we treat each other? What are our convictions about how I relate to my friends or have other relationships? What are my convictions about how I should carry out my job? Do I have a conviction that having accepted this responsibility, I will do my best? I will give it my best? I will work in this vocation and this occupation, this job, as the Bible says, as if I were doing it unto Jesus and in his name and unto him? Or is my conviction, well, you need to do as little as you can and get by with it just so you do a day's work. What are your convictions? Because you see, integrity begins with convictions that are non-negotiable. Can't be talked out of these. Nobody's going to convince me that Jesus is not the Son of God. Nobody's going to convince me that lying is the way to live. Nobody's going to convince me that just spending, spending, spending and getting in debt and getting myself into all these credit cards, nobody's going to convince me that that's the right thing to do or to do that. So we could take every relationship in life and all that we do, the absolute truth, convictions that are non-negotiable. So if I should ask you, name me the convictions in your life that are non-negotiable. They're not going to change no matter what.

Then, of course, there is the whole issue of submission. If you and I are going to live a life of integrity, we must submit ourselves to the living God to walk in righteousness because you'll notice what He said in this passage. He who walks with integrity and works righteousness to submit to the will of God, Lord, what would You have me to do? He's not going to ever say, well, be deceptive or just manipulate the circumstances. Just don't tell Him the whole truth. We'll imply something. In other words, He's not going to do that. So first of all, there's conviction. There's submission. And then thirdly, there's the whole issue of building relationships with people of integrity. Listen. To strengthen your own integrity, have relationships with people who do. For example, when you and I see someone who's got some friends who are way out in left field, over the fence, the way they talk, the way they dress, where they go, what they do, you and I know that a person who runs with that crowd, the Bible warns against it. Why would a person of integrity run with people who have no integrity, who are ungodly, unrighteous, do not tell the truth, get by as little as they can. You want to have strong integrity? Then you be sure to build friends with people who do have integrity. Then of course, there's the whole issue of trusting God.

You trust Him. You and I are going to hit situations that may tempt or may at least challenge us at our truthfulness. Now, here's the issue. When that challenge hits you, here's the decision we have to make. Am I going to trust God in this? Though it could be painful, Lord. Am I going to trust God in this? Am I going to trust myself? Or am I going to lie about it, manipulate, be deceptive, not tell the truth? To build integrity, I have to decide how I'm going to live my life, and I have to decide that I'm going to trust Him. Then of course, now watch this, we're all going to fail at some time about something. Now, I'm going to say this again. You may tell something that you're absolutely convinced is the truth and is not the truth. Then you, then naturally you say, well, look, you know what? I genuinely thought that was the truth. I'm sorry. So, you face up to it. One of the ways we build integrity is to confess our failure. Let's say, for example, you knew it wasn't the truth. How do you build integrity? You're willing to confess to deal with something that you said, implied, deceived. In other words, you're willing to say, you know what?

I was wrong. I need to ask you to forgive me. I didn't tell you all the facts. I misled you, which is deception. I misled you. That's not integrity at all. I'm asking you to please forgive me. And then, whatever the situation, you make amends. For example, let's say that I told you something that was not true that cost you three hundred dollars as a result of my being deceptive, didn't tell you the truth, cost you three hundred dollars. If I'm a man of integrity, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to say, you know what? I misled you. Not only do I confess and ask you to forgive me, but I'm going to pay you the three hundred dollars it cost you. Just confessing it's not enough. A person of integrity is going to make amends and make restitution for what it cost someone else. It's because of their lack of integrity. Now, telling the truth is very important. Is it hard sometimes? Yes, it's hard sometimes. It's hard sometimes as a pastor to tell the truth to someone you know they don't want to hear it, you know it's going to hurt them, you know they're going to think you're not their friend, you know, you know what? But you have to do it anyway. And you just have to say, you know what?

I know you're not going to like this. I know this is going to hurt you. And I'm sorry it's going to hurt you. It hurts me to have to tell you. But you know what? I don't ever want you to wake up one day and say, if He only told me. What I want you to see is this. Integrity is very important in the eyes of God. And when you look at this book and you look to see what He says here, it's, He says, you're going to live in a close relationship to, you're going to live in a close relationship to Him who is. He who walks with integrity and works righteousness, speaks truth in his heart. Doesn't mean we're perfect. Doesn't mean we won't sin. Doesn't mean we won't make mistakes. But when we do, or when we're tempted, or in a moment of weakness when you fail at that point, you confess it, you go to that person, you ask for their forgiveness and make amends, whatever's necessary. But you know, one of the worst things the unbelieving world can see is a believer, one who claims to know Jesus Christ as personal Savior, who is unreliable, insincere, untrustworthy. A person you cannot trust to tell the truth. I pray to God in Jesus' name that you will take this message to heart because this is about who you are.

It's about your whole future because your whole future is going to be affected by who you are and the way you live it out.