Where Does Your Integrity Stand?

By Linda Sedrick Pearson

Integrity: 1)A being complete; wholeness; 2)unimpaired condition, soundness; 3)uprightness, honesty, sincerity
(Everyday Encyclopedic Edition Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language. (1965). The Southwestern Company: Nashville)

Where does your integrity stand? Are you honest and sincere in everything you do? Do you look out for yourself and not care about others? Or do you have a genuine concern for the well-being and spiritual condition of others?

God mentions integrity several times in the Holy Bible (King James Version – KJV). One of those references is Proverbs 11:3 “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.” God is giving us a look here at the difference between those who have integrity (“the upright”) and those who don’t (“transgressors”). He also gives us insight and warning about following either type of person.

If you listen to the “upright” (or the one with integrity), then you will be guided. If I am going on a trip into unknown territory, I want a guide that knows the correct path to follow. I don’t want a guide that will lead me into a dead end or off a cliff. God is telling us in this verse (Proverbs 11:3) that following someone with integrity is a wise choice. This path leads to salvation.

The other side of Proverbs 11:3 tells us what happens if we follow transgressors (or sinners). It goes further and calls it “the perverseness of trangressors.” Follow the path of trangressors leads to perverse behavior. (Perverse means wicked, stubborn, and contrary.) Where does this path lead? God says it leads to destruction.

It is your choice. God has given the instructions to you in Proverbs 11:3. Where does your integrity stand? Are you following the “upright” or are you following “the perverseness of trangressors?”

Again, it is your choice. Just keep in mind where your chosen journey will end. It all depends on your chosen path.

© Linda Sedrick Pearson