“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...” Philippians 1:27
We live in a world where very little integrity is practiced. A person, who is consistent in what they think, say and practice, displays integrity. But what most often happens is, people think and even state certain things but their thoughts and words are not backed up in their behaviour. They are not honestly loyal to what they say or think. This lack of integrity is also be called hypocrisy!
As believers we are called, commanded to live lives that display integrity. But we also can be entrapped by worldly standards on this. We can tend to think that ‘what goes on behind closed doors’ or what I think and say is of less importance than what I do. Or, it could be that we place a premium on our more public actions and consider private thoughts and words of little consequence.
But we must understand that our standard of integrity is not a self-imposed standard. God sets the standard for our integrity. Our thoughts, words and actions of life are to be in sync toward this divine standard. Our whole lives are to be in tune, with gospel of Christ!
This means, that what we think, say and do, whether it be in the home, the workplace, or with God’s people, the gospel of Christ (which means the redemptive plan of God as in the whole of Scripture) needs be ever in the forefront of our living. We are to live in a worthy manner. We are to live consistently with what we believe, by what we say and do. I like how Jerry Wragg in his book ‘Exemplary Spiritual Leadership’ put this: Integrity is the consistent harmony of convictions and conduct... The opposite, of course is hypocrisy... Integrity is having an untarnished moral character both publicly and when no one else is around.