For thought and meditation

[rl69]

"I will be careful to live a blameless life - when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home."

—Psalm 101:2

What is integrity? It is having character—not being a character. (A lot of us would qualify there.) One definition suggests that integrity is what you are in the dark. In other words, who are you when you’re all alone and no one is watching?

Maybe our character could be determined by what kind of television programs catch our interest or the type of websites we might visit when no one is watching. What kind of thoughts would be in our heads if we knew that no one would be aware of them? Of course, God is always watching and aware, but we often forget that.

I like how Will Rogers put it: “So live that you would not mind selling your pet parrot to the town gossip.”

I heard the story of a pastor who boarded a bus one Monday morning. He paid his fare and took his seat, but then he realized that the bus driver had given him a lot of extra change. At the next stop the pastor went up to the bus driver and said, “Excuse me, sir, but you gave me too much change. I wanted to give it back to you.”

The bus driver said, “Pastor, I didn’t make a mistake. I was at your church yesterday, and I heard you preach on honesty. I wanted to see if you would live it.”

Compromisers reach no one. There is power in conviction. There is power in integrity, in godliness, and in standing up for what we believe.

Many times we don’t realize that people are watching us. They are paying attention to what we do. They may not tell us they are watching us, but they want to see if we are the real deal, if we are men and women of integrity

[Thundarstick]

Don't forget the non believers rejoice when a Christian is found in a fault!

Good things to think on! BTW Have you seen "Hacksaw Ridge"? Talk about conviction!

[buckwheatpaul]

Great points all. Christians are humans, just like non-Christians, and make mistakes all the time. It is how we react to our mistakes and makes the difference!

Pray for South Texas!

[Boaz]

To do the right thing Is generally not hard to do . Thank you rl69

[Pine Baron]

You may not know what's right, but you sure know what's wrong. (Pop-pop's rule #1)

[Blackwater]

When the cynicism that seems to pervade our "modern world" says to do whatever you can get away with, it's refreshing and inspiring to see someone like that bus driver. When I was loaning money, and collecting it when it didn't come in, there was an old adage about lending: "Never lend to the 4 P's - policemen, painters, preachers, and politicians!" And I've done some collecting on a preacher who was pastor of one of the nicest churches in our town. He had twin Harleys in his garage, and several vehicles, but .... couldn't pay his bills! He seemed to think that just because he was a "man of god," folks were supposed to make allowances for him. I've seen a few others as well like that, but they were much more of a small time proposition, and probably were hurting financially very literally. One, a black preacher, was almost openly carrying on an affair with the church "secretary." It's amazing what one sees when one gets to know things that many congregations never get to know or see!

But by far the bulk of the preachers I've known have been very honorable, and very careful with their money. A few have gotten into bad straits through no real fault of their own, and they were SO ashamed to not be able to pay their bills! Those I always helped to the greatest degree I could. But the wastrels, like the one I mentioned above with the twin Harleys? You'd have thought I was Joe Friday - "Just the facts Ma'am." Preachers who don't live what they preach have always disgusted me. Thank God that we have so many really good ones, motivated by God's will, and not by mammon's lure!

Preachers really have very interesting lives. You who fill that role, and do it honorably, have not only my respect, but my admiration. I think it's one of the toughest jobs in existence anywhere! God bless you all!