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Today we are going to look at living
with integrity and when we talk about integrity in the Bible we are talking
about someone who is whole or complete, who you are when you think no one is
looking.
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Anything which is whole or complete
in God's sight is pleasing to him. Therefore, when we live with integrity we
are pleasing to God.
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That brings me to today's take-home
truth: When I do what's right, I am pleasing to God.
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Let me share an illustration with
you about integrity.
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In 1987 Cleveland Stroud (after
coaching the Rockdale County high school Bulldogs basketball team of Conyers,
Georgia for 18 years) finally led the team to win the statewide championship.
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After 18 years without a win at the
state level, you can imagine his excitement.
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In the dramatic deciding game, they
came up from behind to win the state championship.
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However, a short time later coach
Stroud was reviewing his players grades and discovered that an underclassman
from the third string of players had failed a few of his courses which made him
ineligible to play and disqualified the Bulldogs' state championship victory.
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The young man who was ineligible to
play played only 45 seconds in one of the Bulldogs five post-season games.
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No one knew at the time that he was
ineligible, but when discovered, the coach voluntarily reported to the Georgia High
School Athletic Association, which stripped them of their championship and took
away their trophy.
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Coach Stroud was widely quoted when
he said, "we didn't know he was ineligible at the time; we didn't know it
until a few weeks ago. Some people said we should have just kept quiet about
it, that it was just 45 seconds and the player wasn't even an impact player.
But you've got to do what's honest and right and what the rules say. I told my
team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don't ever forget
what you're made of."
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Coach Stroud didn't have to report
the 45 seconds of play of the ineligible, third string underclassman.
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The championship was over and done
with, but integrity is who you are when you think no one's looking, when the
only one who sees you is Almighty God.
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Not only do people remember what
you're made of, so does God.
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When I do what's right, I am
pleasing to God.
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In Proverbs, Solomon presented his
son with two main ideas that he wanted him to learn: first, integrity is
choosing to live as a whole person and rejecting living a double-life; and
second, integrity is having character that yields godly fruit.
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I.
Integrity is choosing to live as a whole person and rejecting living a double
life.
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Let's look at a few Proverbs which
undergird and support this idea.
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#1. Proverbs 10:9 emphasizes that having integrity means having nothing to
hide and nothing to fear.
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Proverbs 10:9, Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways
crooked will be found out.
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When my day-to-day life shows a life
of integrity, completeness, or wholeness, then I will have nothing to hide and
nothing to fear.
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We can face each day with
confidence, free from worry, and a clear conscience when we live right.
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One whose path is crooked or twisted
through life, while he or she may do well for the time being, in the end that
one's true nature will eventually be exposed.
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If you've ever had a moral slipup
compromising your integrity at one time or another you know the fear of being
found out, but how terrible the buried fear must be of the morally bankrupt
person who spends their whole life following a twisted path.
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Having integrity means having
nothing to hide and nothing to fear.
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#2. Proverbs 15:26 emphasizes that having integrity means cultivating a pure
thought life.
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Proverbs 15:26, The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure.
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God hates evil thoughts before they
are even acted upon because an evil thought is just as bad as an evil action.
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On the flip side, God delights in
those who think pure thoughts.
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The apostle Paul wrote the
Philippians, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things,"
Philippians 4:8.
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The mind which spends time
cultivating such thoughts is a mind of integrity.
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When we devote ourselves to thinking
pure thoughts, we prove to ourselves that we believe in the omniscience of God
who knows our innermost thoughts.
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Having integrity means cultivating a
pure thought life.
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#3. Proverbs 24:8-9 emphasize that having integrity means growing in godliness
through making godly plans.
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Proverbs 24:8-9, Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer. The devising of
folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
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"Schemes are the stock in trade
of the evil person," writes Max Anders.
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Schemers deliberately plot evil and
everyone quickly guesses that they are not to be trusted.
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They soon show themselves for what
they are: mockers, scoffers, God-haters, people whose evil plans and folly get
the best of them.
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Those who develop evil plans lose
their reputations which are incredibly hard to get back.
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When I want to be a person of
integrity, I abandon my selfish agenda and plans and seek to grow in godliness
by setting my heart on God's plans.
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Having integrity means growing in
godliness through making godly plans.
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#4. Proverbs 29:10 emphasizes that having integrity means often receiving
hatred from the world.
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Proverbs 29:10, Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the
upright.
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The Lord Jesus confirmed this
proverb when he said, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me
before it hated you," John 15:18.
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The apostle John also wrote,
"Do not be surprised that the world hates you," 1 John 3:13.
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Unscrupulous people hate people of
integrity whose lives quietly rebuke the evil of the world around them.
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They even resort to violence against
people of integrity because they hate what is good, true and right.
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That is, after all, what Jewish and
Roman authorities did to Christ.
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Having integrity means often
receiving hatred from the world.
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When I do what's right, I am
pleasing to God.
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We come now to our second idea.
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II.
Integrity is having character that yields godly fruit.
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#1. Proverbs 3:33-35 emphasize that having integrity means surrendering our envy
of others to God.
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Proverbs 3:33-35, The Lord's curse is on the house of the
wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners he is
scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but
fools get disgrace.
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At various times in our lives we
find ourselves envying others, worldly, wicked or not, Solomon gives three
reasons that's a bad idea.
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i) God blesses the family of the
righteous, but curses the household of the wicked; ii) God causes the mocking
of scorners to boomerang back onto them while he gives grace to the humble; and
iii)from God the wise will inherit glory in eternity, while fools will be exposed
in disgrace and shame.
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Having integrity means surrendering
our envy of others to God.
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#2. Proverbs 10:24-25 emphasize that
having integrity means always looking
forward to what is most important.
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Proverbs 10:24-25, What the wicked dreads will come upon him,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the tempest passes, the
wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.
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Everyone is looking for security,
but a person without integrity will never be secure because his hopes are
limited to the here and now.
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An evil person always lives in fear
of losing what she has and will finally fall in either terror or tragedy.
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A person of integrity looks to the
future with hope because he will eventually receive what he hopes for.
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Ultimately, the wicked get what they
fear most as the righteous get what they most long for, God himself.
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Each one will stand before the
judgement seat of Christ.
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One will go away into everlasting
torment and one to everlasting life.
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Having integrity means always
looking forward to what is most important.
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#3. Proverbs 11:27 emphasizes that having integrity means pursuing good and
finding acceptance from God and others.
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Proverbs 11:27, Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who
searches for it.
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"Diligently seeks" means
"to pursue, look early or eagerly for."
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When I am eager to pursue good I
will be accepted, but when I am eager to pursue evil I will not be accepted.
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As God said to Cain, "If you do
well will you not be accepted and if you do not do well, sin is crouching at
the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it," Genesis 4:7.
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Gaining God's favour comes when we
do what's right, but we reject God's favour when we don't do what's right and
turn our hearts toward evil.
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Having integrity means pursuing good
and finding acceptance from God and others.
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#4. Proverbs 14:22 emphasizes that having integrity means cultivating and
enacting plans for good.
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Proverbs 14:22, Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet
steadfast love and faithfulness.
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The Hebrew for devise comes from
"plow." It is active.
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Devising plans cuts furrows in the
fields of our minds and tills the soil of our thoughts and hearts until we are
ready to enact those plans, plans which have an impact because they result in
love and faithfulness when our plans reflect the good God intends.
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When we plan what is good we'll stay
on track, but when we plan what is evil we'll go astray.
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Having integrity means cultivating
and enacting plans for good.
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When I do what's right, I am
pleasing to God.
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Many years ago, Douglas Aircraft was
competing with Boeing Aircraft to sell Eastern Airlines its first big jets.
Former World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, the then president of Eastern
Airlines, reportedly told Donald Douglas that the specifications and the claims
made by Douglas company for the DC 8s were close to Boeings on everything
except the noise suppression. Rickenbacker then gave Douglas one last chance to
out-promise Boeing on this feature. After consulting with his engineers, Mr.
Douglas reported back that he did not feel he could make such a promise. At
this, Rickenbacker smiled and replied, 'Oh, I know you can't. I just wanted to know
if you were still honest. You've got yourself an order for $135 million. Now go
home and silence those jets!'
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When I do what's right, I am
pleasing to God.
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We need to commit to being persons
of integrity not simply for our own personal peace with God, but also because
of the tragic and terrible consequences that can fall on us when we don't.
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Allow me to give us four questions to work through to help
us periodically evaluate our personal integrity.
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#1. In what area of my life do I
face the greatest temptation to cheat on integrity?
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#2. What steps can I take to become
strengthened in this area?
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#3. How have I seen integrity help
my life?
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And #4. How have times when I lacked
integrity hurt my life?
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When
I do what's right, I am pleasing to God.
