Integrity, Be Aware

I have heard that integrity is not always what you do, but what you do when no one is watching. It is important to be the same in public and in private as the demonstration of your integrity. This morning I continue my study on spiritual leadership from the Fall 2011 MasterWork series with Henry and Richard Blackaby as the writers and today is the lesson on character and integrity.

This morning I write about character and integrity as one when looking at the impact on spiritual leadership. These two items work together to define the make up of a spiritual leader. As noted above, integrity is what you do when no one is watching. What you do in those private moments between you and the LORD. Character is what people see in those public moments. So there is the correlation of the two working together to define the public and private you.

In society today, no one is completely out of the public eye. Our lives are on full display in what seems like all day, every day. Social media has made it very difficult, if not improbable to be completely private. Even if you are not the one actively utilizing the web, you will be in public and will likely be caught on someone’s camera, or audio recording at some point. This is not to say that this is a “bad” thing, but we have to be even more aware of our behavior at all times. In the past, it would have been possible to separate to some degree our public and private lives, but today, not so much.

The final two sentences of the lesson today speak to how integrity becomes so integral in our lives; “Integrity doesn’t happen by accident. It happens on purpose.” Integrity is intentional. I have to remember that I am under the microscope in my life, regardless of where I am. Yes, social media has made it difficult to keep my private life private, but there is a more important, dare I say the most important, one watching me always, GOD.

“¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” – 2 Peter 3:14 (ESV)

We are to watch ourselves to be seen by God, the only one that matters, as striving to be blameless as Jesus was. In my public and private life, God is watching and seeing my heart to be for and about Him. I can only do so when I am filled with the Holy Spirit and showing Him for all the world to see. Showing Him in my public and private life. Being aware of my actions to ensure that I am intentional. Remembering that, “Integrity is not automatic” – Henry and Richard Blackaby.

What is your view of integrity? Are you aware that it matters and how it comes to be? What if you were to realize that it is as important in your private life as in public and that it “is not automatic” but intentional to walk like Christ?