Not always, of course, but I have reflected on some simple Bible verses in which great principles are found.
In the old English language of the King James Bible, Jesus said: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”
It shouldn’t need to be said.
What’s so hard about saying what you mean and meaning what you say? Once upon a time, we would say that “A man’s word is his bond.”
I am sure that applies to women, too.
Contracts were once sealed with a handshake, and a person’s reputation rode on them being a person of integrity.
Now, everyone refers you to the T&Cs (terms and conditions) on their website, which usually run into dozens of pages of legal mumbo-jumbo that no-one ever reads.
What has changed?
Once we fall foul of the T&Cs, we turn to social media to complain about them, not realising that we agreed to whatever was hidden in the fine print when we signed up.
Look at your social media accounts, for example.
The thing that saddens me is that society is accepting the old Barnum and Bailey circus founders’ motto, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
If you get away with it, you are a ‘winner’.
My phone constantly rings with scammers trying to get me to divulge personal information so that they can fleece me of my savings.
Scams are not new, but they are getting more sophisticated every year.
To be fair, scammers have even used faith as means of tricking people into parting with their life savings and it has caused people to turn away from Jesus.
But we need to step back a bit and see what Jesus actually said and did. Integrity was His hallmark, and it got him into trouble when he called out the religious hypocrites.
Most of us think that we are people of integrity, but the test is: what skeletons are we hiding?
A person who has nothing to hide is happy to have their life laid bare for all to see. In Proverbs chapter 10:9 it says: “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”
No-one wants to be found out, but what happens if you are?
In a court of law, you need a lawyer to represent you.
Someone to get the charges against you dismissed or at least reduced.
However, in the heavenly court, Jesus is the ultimate advocate. He not only speaks for us, He pays the fine!
The only way He could do that was due to the fact that Jesus, being God in human flesh, was the only sinless person.
He was the only human of unimpeachable integrity. The Apostle John said: “If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
That is great news! No matter what skeletons are hiding in our closet, if they are brought to Jesus in genuine repentance, not just lip-service, they are dealt with by Jesus on the cross.
It’s never too late to ask Jesus to forgive you your sins and to represent you before the Father in heaven.
Once we have that burden lifted from us, we are free to live lives of integrity here on earth.
We can start by being people who can be trusted, not only in the little things, but in the big things of life. In one of Jesus’ parables, he said: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.”
Why not bless someone this week with a display of unusual integrity?
Rev Phil Zamagias,
Christ Church Anglican, Echuca
8°C