Evangelist D. L. Moody said integrity is who you are in the dark. God, and those who live with us, know us the best. We cannot fool them. If our public persona is one way and our private world is entirely different, then it is only a matter of time until the house of cards comes crumbling down.
Three times in Matthew's Gospel, we read Jesus saying the Father sees in secret and rewards openly (
Matthew 6:4, 6, and 18). Jesus was integrity personified. He lived a life of consistency. Jesus was and is the image of God, according to
Hebrews 1:3:
"Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." At Jesus' Transfiguration in
Matthew 17, we read of His radiant glory where what was on the inside of our Lord shone forth on the outside.
How well do our public lives match our private lives? It would be sad and most unfortunate if we lived one way for all to see but an entirely different way in the presence of those who know us best, our family. There was so much I enjoyed in the
recent article in Decision magazine about Christian artist Toby Mac, but my favorite quote was by his wife, Amanda. She posted the following on social media to honor him on his birthday: "Toby has led us through the valley of the shadow of death this year with strength and humility and it has been our honor to walk with him. Babe, may the world know that we, your family, declare that your public image pales in comparison to your private personhood."
Integrity has its origins in the word "integer", which refers to something as being complete. The man or woman who possesses integrity is a complete person. They do not live a hypocritical life where they put on a show or a mask in public while being an entirely different person in private.
I know we will never be completely perfect like Jesus was on this earth. But we must strive to be people of honesty and consistency. How are you doing with your integrity? If there is a major disconnect in who you are in public and who you are in private, God can change that. It starts with prayer. Ask God to forgive you of your hypocrisy, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you.
May God empower us to be the same people both when many are looking at our lives and when no one is looking. May we please God in all that we do and say, and let us live with no regrets.
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