Integrity

Integrity

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Proverbs 11:3, NIV

When I picked up this morning’s newspaper, my eyes were drawn to the picture of an old schoolhouse sitting in the middle of a wide-open prairie. The article underneath the picture explained that a well-known journalist had purchased the little schoolhouse and the surrounding land for his mistress of twenty-nine years. During those twenty-nine years, he also had a wife at home on the other side of the continent. Upon becoming seriously ill, he wrote a letter to his mistress saying that if he died he wanted her to have the schoolhouse and the land. After the journalist’s death, this property led to a confrontation between two women he probably hoped would never meet, and the court ended up awarding the contested land and schoolhouse to the journalist’s wife.

This man left behind a reputation as a fine journalist, but double-mindedness in his private life added a bitter footnote to his character. After reading the article, I picked up my Bible and opened to the scheduled reading for the day, which included the above verse from Proverbs. Once again I was reminded that God’s Word brings truth and purity to our innermost being.

As mothers, we want to be more like Christ; duplicity is not the kind of example we want for our children. Do our kids see us speaking and dealing honestly? Being loyal in our relationships? Saying what we mean and meaning what we say? When we choose integrity, we grow to be women who are whole and undivided. When we choose integrity, we choose a good path—both for ourselves and for our children.

Father,

May we be sensitive to the truth of your Word and the power of your Spirit, so that we choose to live a life of integrity in front of you and in front of our children. Amen.