A Person of Integrity

What does it mean to walk in integrity?
I think we have all heard the expression, “a man of integrity”, but what does it really 
mean? More importantly, what does the Bible say about being a man (or woman) of integrity?

Biblically speaking, being a person of integrity means you live a life of spiritual uprightness, you are honest and you are consistent. What you do lines up with what you say. Your morals and your character line up with the Truth of the Word of God.

This does not mean you only walk upright when you are at church. This means no matter who you are with or where you are, you are walking upright, in honesty and consistency. 

Honesty goes beyond speaking the truth; it means you act with integrity and everything you do is in truth. So no matter what is being said around you or to you, you speak and act with honesty.

When we are consistent and honest, we are walking in integrity. People learn that they can trust us, and that we are not simply saying we are followers of Jesus, we are actually walking that out in our daily lives. Honesty is a crucial part of our relationship with God and our relationship with others.

Proverbs 10:9 says, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

And Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

The truth is, nothing is hidden from the Lord. He sees all that we do and say. He calls us to a life of honest integrity. This starts with getting honest with yourself: Have you been living a double life? Are you one person at church or around believers and a totally different person elsewhere?

Whatever we try to keep hidden will come into light eventually, so there is truly no point in trying to hide or keep things in the dark.

Psalm 25:21 says, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You.”

To preserve means to keep and to safeguard; integrity keeps us from trouble. We are not having to worry about any lies catching up to us, when we are honest and walking spiritually upright, we can walk in the full peace of God, knowing we have nothing to hide or cover up.

The Lord wants every part of us, we must be fully surrendered in every area in order to walk in true freedom. 

There is a quote that says, “A life half devoted is a life not devoted at all. For how could we look at our Lord who gave His all and say, ‘I only want to give you some’?”

When we are a person of integrity, it means everything we have and everything we are has been surrendered to Christ; we are His through and through. When we walk in integrity, we do not have to fear that something we have said or done will be brought to light because it has all been done in spiritual uprightness.

I want to leave you with one last passage of scripture.

1 John 1:5-7 says, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

When we are walking in the light, we are walking in integrity, and we are able to live the life the Lord has called us to.