“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You.” Ps. 25:21
What this verse actually communicates is this, “May completeness, innocence, simplicity, uprightness and evenness protect, preserve, guard and keep me close, for I wait in eager expectation for You.” ~~ Basically, to live a life of integrity means to live every area of my life to God every minute and every step of the way!
Yikes, but how is this possible you ask? “The pressures from society and pressures even within the walls of my own home cause me such temptation…especially this time of year with all the added Christmas demands and family situations!”
Well, to have integrity doesn’t mean that perfection must be our standard, for we all know that none of us is perfect. What integrity does mean, however, is that we need to continually strive to surrender areas of our lives where we knowingly compromise. Areas of unrepentant sin, such as anger rages, hatred, lust, illegal goings-on…you get the picture. You see, God wants us to experience abundant life here on earth (not just in heaven), and Satan knows this. Satan is the cosmic kill-joy, not God. And the devil diligently, consistently and creatively labors to trip us up. If the devil can entice us to surrender one small area of our life to him, he knows he has a foothold on us. And often one compromise leads to another, then to another, resulting in more and more damage, which in turn leads to destruction…thus creating our own prison on earth.
Haven’t we all seen this with a married couple who has so much going right in their relationship but make just one compromise?… Like maxing out the credit card(ssss), or calling one another ugly names when frustrated (resulting in serious trust issues or much worse), or permissive parenting (with the children now running the family), or porn introduced (which now runs out of control), or refusing to leave and cleave( thus allowing in-laws to run the show), or becoming child focused instead of spouse focused (and losing intimate relationship with our partner, or work/recreation focused instead of spouse focused (and losing cherished connection with our partner), or….You get it.
Shaun and I are committed to “staying on a short leash” with God and with one another with the enticements in our lives. No compromises. We converse and pray regularly, beseeching God to cause us to desire to stay on His path…to cause us to want to live in innocence, simplicity, and uprightness of character. Why? Because we are old now J and we have found through trial and error, you’ve guessed it, God’s way leads to an amazing life, and our way leads to certain heartache.
Sure, we have had to give up some things and some relationships along the way. And although these sacrifices are incredibly difficult at the time of sacrifice, God keeps to His promise, and blesses us 100 fold for our obedience. “I tell you the truth…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother of father or children or fields for ME and the gospel will fail to receive a 100X as much in this present age…and in the age to come.” Mk.10:29-30
So, let’s commit to do some regular house keeping…for our own good, and our Lord’s glory. Don’t we owe it to Him? He gave it ALL so that we could truly LIVE, now and forever.
God bless you this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
