Whole, Complete And Undivided

I was reading the news this morning and the more I read the more appalled I became. There is rarely good news, it’s more along the lines of horror stories. I believe the human race has lost their integrity.

I looked up a definition of integrity. It is the adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character, honesty.

It is also a state or quality of being whole, complete and undivided. I believe people with integrity are exactly that; whole, complete and undivided. They actually follow through and do what they say they are going to do.  When you don’t keep your word, your wholeness and completeness break down, and you become divided. You begin to have a tug of war with yourself. We have to have our words match our actions.

I have had many people throughout the years, ask me to use my name as a reference. I always caution them that I will be completely honest with their prospective employer. We own a business and I have had to call references for many people over the years. It was not a job I ever enjoyed. There were 2 questions I always asked a reference. Would you hire this person? The other question was, has this person ever lied to you? They are uncomfortable questions and I can usually tell by the hesitation in the response, the answers before they even speak. My question to the person who wants to be hired is, when was the last time you lied?

Yes we have all lied! We are all guilty. Sometimes we just don’t tell the complete truth. If we have integrity we will make right our wrongs. As you go through life you will recognize those with integrity (you can count most of them on 10 fingers) and those without it.

There was a business that failed back in 1927, in Savannah, Georgia. There were 500 stockholders that lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The man who owned the company, along with his son vowed to someday pay back the lost money. The man died before he could repay the debt, the son however was determined to do so. He became a songwriter and singer. One day he deposited 300,000 into the bank to reimburse those stockholders. One of the songs he had written and received royalties to help pay the debt was called “Accentuate the positive”.

I wish the news was filled with stories like this! Stories that will build your character and make you want to be a person of your word. A person of integrity.

Many times through the years my children asked me why they had to do certain things. My answer was because it was the right thing to do. It might not be the easy thing but it’s right and you know in your heart it’s right.

It makes me appreciate the Lord so much more as I read about the deplorable condition of this world.  I can always count on Him! He will never leave me without resources to fight my current battle. He will never lie to me or fail to help me when I fall or fail miserably.  He has given us footsteps to follow that are filled with honesty and integrity.