We all know someone who has a propensity to lie. We know someone who attempts to cheat their way to the top. If we are to observe them for a length of time, which may be years, their lying and cheating ways are revealed. Ultimately, they fall, and often the fall is hard. Their world comes crashing down on them, and they cry, “woe is me.”

            If we are or become the person who is disingenuous, we can expect to be found out. We can expect for our lying and cheating to be exposed. If we know we will be exposed, why would we go down that road? Unfortunately, I do not have answers for that. Perhaps those who go down that road can provide their reasoning. Maybe we should ask.

            On the other hand, the person who holds onto their integrity, being honest, may experience hard times because some people do not want to hear the hard truth. However, they can walk securely or confidently knowing they have held to the truth. Therefore, there is both a reward in the here and now, as well as in the future.

            I’m sure many of you were raised, just like me, to be honest. Perhaps your parents or grandparents emphasized the positives of being honest and it stuck. Since I am also a retired Marine as well as a pastor, honesty and integrity are at the top of my list of personal attributes I strive for. It’s not that I have never lied in my life, but I have felt the consequences for doing so and have no desire to go through that again.

            You know one of the good things about not lying? It is that you don’t have to remember what lie you told. If we simply stick to the truth, we remember the truth. Another good thing about not lying is that we don’t live with the guilt of doing so. There are some who will tell themselves they have no guilt for lying, but that is simply them lying to themselves. Whether we acknowledge it or not, that guilt is eating us away inside.

            Walking in integrity will ultimately reap the reward of being admired by others. Sure, there may be someone who wants to see us stumble and fall, but the majority see our integrity and hold us in high esteem. They may not always like what we have to say, because they don’t like the truth we speak, but they will respect it. And don’t we all want to be respected?

            Holding our integrity dearly is a wise decision. It will bear fruit when we least expect it. Integrity is just one attribute of God we should aspire to. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His integrity keeps him the same and he continues to speak truth. May each of us hold onto our integrity and speak truth in love.

Proverbs 10:9: Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out.