Honesty, Integrity and Courage

There are a number of people from all walks of life and faiths who exhibit good moral virtues but it's only on the surface. The Bible says the human heart is full of wickedness and without the Holy Spirit we will follow the inclinations of our fallen nature.The life of a true Christian should always reflect honesty, integrity and courage.

Jesus suggests that one of the most obvious character traits of a true Christian is honesty and that unbelievers are born liars who are incapable of hearing the truth. "For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don't believe me! " (John 8:44)

Dishonesty is something everybody looks down on. No one wants to associate with someone who can't be trusted and once a person sows the seeds of distrust it is extremely difficult to regain the trust that was lost. But there are a lot of people, even among Christians, who "wink" at what some of us refer to as little white lies. No matter how insignificant it may seem it's still a lie and God hates a liar. "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth." (Prov.12:22)

Honesty is something every Christians should be very diligent about. How can we expect anyone to believe the truth about Jesus if we're known to lie? Jesus said not to fear man but to fear God. Lies are usually told out of the fear of man. The truth is usually told out of the fear of God. He is always listening. He hears and knows everything. When we tell these little white lies we are denying faith in His omnipresence.

However, there is more to honesty than mere truth telling. When people live in a way contrary to what and who they say they are, they are living a lie. Paul said that Christians should live honest, respectable lives and be examples to unbelievers by the way they live. (1Thess.4:11)

When we became Christians we took on the name of Christ and our lives should bring Him praise and our Christian ethics should be obvious to everyone in our life circles. God sees everything, so honesty should encompass every aspect of our lives.

"...sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God."

Honesty begins in the heart. We can't be honest with God if we can't be honest with ourselves. If we examine our hearts before God openly and honestly, we may be surprised at what He will reveal to us. Only God can change the heart, but the heart has to be willing to change. It may not happen overnight but with genuine perseverance it will happen.

Walking in obedience to God leads to integrity which is a personal rule of moral ethics. Persons of integrity have certain standards by which they conduct their lives regardless of the circumstances. Their ethics are their ethics and they don't compromise them to avoid difficult situations.

Those with good integrity will tell the truth even when it would be easier to lie. They make an honest living even when they could easily cheat the system because their integrity means more to them than easy money. Everyone knows someone whose integrity is a bit questionable. These are the kind of people who are basically good but at times have violated what they claim to believe.

Moral ethics are the standards which govern our attitude towards life and any compromise of our ethics compromises our integrity. Job was the pinnacle of integrity. Even when he lost everything he refused to violate his beliefs. All of Job's friends and even his own wife tried to get him to violate his ethics.

"His wife said to him, 'Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.' But Job replied, 'You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?'" (Job.2:9-10)

As Christians we should strive to maintain good integrity by never compromising our ethics and always live according to what we say we believe. To do otherwise demonstrates a lack of faith and also makes us appear hypocritical. It's difficult to maintain our integrity in such a fallen world but we must always remember that God knows everything we think, say and do. When we do what is right rather than compromise our ethics, which is usually the easier course, God is well pleased and we will be rewarded for our faithfulness.

It takes courage to maintain our ethics when we are surrounded by those who don't share our moral standards. Many times we draw criticism even from our own family and are sometimes labeled "goody two shoes" and sometimes we are even accused of being self-righteous. It can hurt our feelings and make us feel isolated. Nevertheless, the Bible says that cowards will not enter the kingdom of God. (Rev.21:8) We must have the courage to stand up for what we believe.

Jesus said that the members of our own household would be our enemies. This doesn't necessarily mean that they won't be saved and brought to the knowledge of the truth. Remember that Jesus was scorned by His own family who came to believe the truth after His resurrection. But until they come to the truth, they may often attempt to thwart our efforts at maintaining our ethics such as asking us to lie for them. It takes courage to refuse but we must live according to what we say we believe.

Our courage will ultimately lead to victory if we practice it consistently. Those who know and have tried us will not ask us to violate our ethics because they will know from past experience that we will refuse. Moreover, the stamina we exhibit will be a great testimony to the character of Christ our Lord and ultimately, He will receive the glory for our courage.

The apostles are a great example of courage as they bravely stood their ground in a pagan world and preached the gospel, even at the threat of being beaten or imprisoned. Paul demonstrated more courage than any of them in his walk of faith.

"I have worked harder... put in prison more often... whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea..." (2Cor.11:22) None of us will probably ever have to face the challenges that Paul faced but he is an excellent standard for all Christians.

Those who may criticize us for standing our ground and holding to our Christian morals will eventually respect our courage. The opposite is also true. When we act contrary to what we claim to believe we lose any respect as a Christian they might have had for us which could push them further away from Christ.

As we practice standing up for what we believe, our faith and courage grows stronger. Jesus said, "...to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away." (Lk.19:26) We must have the courage to stand up for what we believe even when we know it will result in criticism or scorn. When we go forward in obedience our courage will increase and eventually we will gain the respect of those who criticize us.

Therefore, the most important character traits a Christian should endeavor to develop are honesty, integrity and courage. If there is anything dishonest or false in our lives we should eliminate it. The teachings of Christ should be the standard by which we base our ethics. No matter how difficult the situation we should holdfast our integrity and stand up for what we believe.

In conclusion, we must step forward in faith and stand up for what we believe to be the truth. As we obey our convictions our strength will grow with each passing victory. We may feel insecure and timid at first but as the Lord strengthens us it will be the unbelievers who will shrink back at the boldness of our honesty, integrity and courage.

Interesting Reading:

Renewing Your Mind
Love Your Neighbor
Theory of Our Existence