Heart guarding
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. –Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Tony Dungy once defined integrity as the choice between what’s convenient and what’s right. He said, “Integrity doesn’t come in degrees: low, medium, or high. You either have integrity or you don’t.” Indeed, integrity isn’t a “one and done” kind of thing. A reputation for integrity is built brick-by-brick over a lifetime, and it can be sacrificed in an instant on the altar of pride or convenience or laziness.
You don’t have to be perfect to have integrity, but you do have to strive for consistency and authenticity. C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” Spencer Johnson said, “Integrity is telling myself the truth and honesty is telling the truth to other people.”
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. –Proverbs 4:14-15 (NIV)
In the past week, I’ve been disappointed to learn of the choices of two people I appreciated and admired. One is a preacher, the other a youth soccer coach. The mistakes of one were relational; the other committed felony-level theft in his business dealings. As a result of their actions, much of the positive influence they had, and might have continued to have, has been severely damaged.
Both men have a judge and it isn’t me – I’m not here to cast stones, only to offer their examples as a caution. On a larger or smaller scale, any of us could fall into a similar trap. We live in a culture that loves to create heroes, then destroy them. Guard you heart.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. –Proverbs 4:26-27 (NIV)
Most people don’t plan to forfeit their integrity. It’s easy to get complacent and it’s easy to get distracted. We start to make small compromises, almost without noticing. We allow ourselves a seemingly harmless shortcut or guilty pleasure that leads down a path where we wake up one day and wonder how we got here.
Check your internet browser history, the negotiating tactics employed in your last major transaction, or your level of productive effort compared to your rate of pay. How about your thought life – would you want that on display? Drifting carelessly through life is not a luxury we can afford if we are to be men of integrity. Guard your heart.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. –1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan took his life in his hands. He called out King David for committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband, Uriah. Nathan was clever about it, telling a parable that stirred up all David’s righteous indignation before telling the king, “You are the man!” If you don’t have a Nathan in your life, you should find one.
If David, the “man after God’s own heart”, could get caught believing his own press clippings, why would we consider ourselves immune? We’re all human. We all make mistakes. God can forgive and redeem anything. But why go down that path? Read the rest of 2 Samuel 12. There’s a lot at stake. Guard your heart.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! –1 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV)