Integrity

Integrity is the ability to remain unimpaired morally, spiritually, and rationally through a firm adherence to biblical values. Solomon said that integrity is our moral GPS guidance system: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out” (Prov 10:9). The Apostle Paul gave an excellent illustration of how biblical integrity works. In a passage found in 2 Cor 4:7-12, he starts with calling all of us just ordinary clay pots. Nothing to brag about— only regular containers. However, God chose to place an incredible treasure in these common pots—the Gospel. Then Paul demonstrates how we are tested by life’s difficult trials and how by God’s grace we can stand firm. Paul said that he sometimes felt pressured on every side but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not abandoned, and knocked down but not knocked out. That is unrelenting integrity. In standing firm as Paul did, we reveal Jesus to the world.

 As clay pots, we are fragile, our time on this earth is short, and we have many weaknesses, but still, God chooses to place in us his surpassing great treasure. That treasure is powerful because it is the transforming gospel of the Lord. Having this treasure does not make us great; it only displays our weaknesses and his great power at work in us. When we become men and women of integrity and learn that we will be pressured from within and without, we don’t have to be crushed. We learn that no matter how difficult life becomes, we do not need to despair. Even though we are at times persecuted, and we will be, we know we will not be abandoned. Also, though life deals us some powerful blows that knock us down—they never knock us out, and we get back up.

When we live this way, our integrity reveals Jesus to the world. That incredible treasure becomes attractive to people who see us live. Every Christian who lives with integrity is giving the world a testimony of God’s transforming power. They can see what Jesus has done in our lives, and that gives them hope that he will do the same for them.

The fact that many trials pressure us but never crush us is a display of our integrity. The fact that we are perplexed but not in despair is a display of our integrity. No matter how confused we get, when we do not despair, it is a display of integrity and trust in God. We may feel the way Jesus did on the cross, that we are forsaken because the persecution is so real, but we know that God will never abandon us.  We can be confident of God's abiding presence regardless of how we feel. Even the most potent blows don’t have to knock us out of the fight. The fact that we get back up is integrity on display. For Paul, the whole point of life was that Jesus would be revealed. He lived for those opportunities that people would see Jesus in his life. Is this not the life we all want as believers?

High Cost of Freedom

We are living in a time when people do not know our history, do not care to understand it. That is dangerous because there are people who will rewrite our history. They deny the facts of our true founding. They reject that men of faith in the God of the Bible founded the nation. The revisionists love to talk about Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin because they were not devout Christians, however, they neglect to tell us that these men, though not Christians, were not opposed to Christianity. They even supported it. The grand majority of the founders were men of devout faith. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, declared that our rights of freedom come from God: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

It had been over 150 years since the first pilgrims had landed in Plymouth. The thirteen colonies united in defense for the first time against the abuses of England. The king had deprived them of the right to self-rule. He had taken away their judicial system and placed judges that were loyal only to him. He had put his army there to carry out his orders at the expense of the colonies. He had taken away their right to fund their governments and economies. He had forbidden trade with any other nations. His laws became a burden too big to bear.

Eventually, a war erupted for our independence. England never imagined that there was any possibility that the colonies could win their freedom.  The war spanned eight years with battles fought from Canada to South Carolina. Over 8,000 Americans died in action, but most of the wounded also died because of inadequate medical care and rampant diseases, causing the number of dead to rise to 25,000.

General George Washington led the American army through some of the most challenging conditions any military has ever faced. They were outnumbered, out trained, out supplied, with no navy to speak of, and continually fighting a war of attrition. Despite these obstacles, they won. There were some unexplainable things that some people consider more than coincidences that saved the army on many occasions, such as: the dense fog that came in at just the right moment and allowed Washington’s troops to cross the East River in New York without detection; the sudden change in the weather that brought a freeze that hardened the ground and allowed the army to make its escape from Trenton, New Jersey. Their survival in some of the most inhospitable conditions proved to be an extraordinary feat both in cold and hot weather and without proper clothing and adequate food. With enlistments continually expiring and trained soldiers replaced with fresh recruits, it is incredible that the army survived. One example of the many instances of protection over George Washington, was when musket balls were flying through the air and all the while he remained safe, is startling. The French navy arriving at precisely the right time to seal off the British troops from an escape by sea was incredible. Perhaps the most significant event ever was the refusal of George Washington to become our first king when the war was over. It was offered to him, but he refused it.

Several years after the war was over and the peace treated was signed in Paris declaring the independence of the United States of America, our founding fathers produced the Constitution of the United States. It has been and continues to be one of the most exceptional documents ever written. We are grateful to God for it and pray for men and women to fill our places of government who love and cherish this document and who acknowledge the blessings of God over our nation.