I was talking to someone the other day who was telling me that integrity is when what you say is exactly what you do. When doing good isn't solely based on a good idea. Another definition is an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting; Psalm 23. I shall not want... those words echo in my mind. Here's the deal, I've been holding back. I thought I was being completely honest with myself but I wasn't and if I'm not honest with myself then I'll never be completely honest with everyone else. I struggle with respecting my mother, I know I should and I know that the way I talk to her should show that love and respect but like everyone else that I converse with I find myself needing to be completely intentional about it and I despise this about myself. I am not complete, I am not undivided, I am broken, and I want. Oh do I want. I know that this is crucial, I want to be part of a family, I want to have my own family, and none of this will come in completeness with integrity unless I can respect my mother, among other things but this is where I am right now.
So let me get some word behind me....Ephesians 6:1-3; Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right (I think I do a pretty good job at this part but integrity is an undivided completeness so lets move on). "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely, "that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth.” Which that promise is found twice in the old testament Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16. Well if it was repeated thrice then it must be crucial. Matthew 15:4 says,"Whoever insults his parents should be put to death." Which means I could die or not live very long if I keep this up. Matthew 19:19 couples loving your neighbor and honoring your parents. I would say this is coincidence but I am quite certain that coincidence doesn't happen.
So in truth, in full integrity I must honor my parents. What does that mean? Well the greek word timao is the word used and that means,"to set a fixed value for something." So I must set a fixed value for my parents? That sounds easy enough. So, just browsing through Proverbs I find that it is life and death that my heart change on this matter sooner rather than later. It isn't pretty. I need something that I can use though that will allow me to always remember this I am searching for word that isn't about me getting eaten by vultures for disrespecting my mom. I want to do this out of love not fear. Proverbs 23:25 is simple, "May your father and mother have joy, may the one who bore you rejoice" and 31:28 "her children rise up and call her blessed."
I think I can stand on these. Mom I love you.
Nice blog. You should update it more. My favorite visual to describe integrity is an orange. What color is an orange? If you cut an orange, what color is it? If you squeeze an orange, what color is it? If you put it in a blender, what color is it? No matter what you do to that orange, it is always going to bleed orange. Same thing with us. When life is good, what color are you? When life sucks, what color are you? When things happen that you can't explain, what color are you? You should always stay true to who you are. And if you are a Christian, Christ should always shine through! Yup. End story now.
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