Integrity CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Integrity means an uncompromising adherence to a code of values; utter sincerity, honesty, and candor; avoidance of deception, expediency, artificiality, or shallowness of any kind.  So, it is a very comprehensive attribute.

Integrity, unlike spiritual matters, is something that lost men can have as well as saved men.  A lost man with integrity is going to be a better citizen than a saved man without it.  Getting saved does not give it to you.  It is not something you pray for; it is something you develop.  It is a matter of character.

You need integrity – it is the difference between success and failure; if you have none you are a failure.

A lot of the problems that we deal with in the ministry are problems with integrity.

Integrity guides you – Prov 11:3 – it is a code of values that you don’t compromise – a young man said about his business training that he was trained to falsify reports in a way that was believable because that is the way that business is run – he said, “it may be a believable story but it is still not the truth.” Therefore, he doesn’t falsify the reports. You may not get as rich with integrity but you will be richer in character than a wealthy man who is perverse in his ways

Coupled with trust in the Lord, integrity keeps you from backsliding – Ps 26:1 – in other words we attribute backsliding to only a spiritual condition but it is more than that – it is a character problem, you will deal with backsliding no matter how much you read and pray if you do not develop some integrity

Integrity is a defense against the devil – Job 2:3,9 –wow dealing with the devil is not just a spiritual problem either – in other words, if you have integrity there are a lot of things  that the devil can’t tempt you with

Integrity affects your children – Prov 20:7 – I read a letter from a granddaughter at this point in the sermon – it is a fabulous testimony of how integrity in a grandpa positively affected a teenage girl

Integrity affects the outcome of your judgment at the judgment seat of Christ – Ps 7:8 –it has eternal consequences

So, develop some integrity – it will help your Christian walk