In multiple discussions with my wife, friends, lectures at my school, and observing the actions of people around me, the issue of integrity has been brought to the surface.
I ask you first, to define for yourself integrity. What does it mean? What should it look like?
For me, integrity means two very important things: 1. Making the moral and correct choice especially when no one is watching you. 2. When you say something, you put your actions behind it. If you make a commitment, you fulfill that commitment as a promise to God himself.
Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, commitments don't mean much to many people. Vows at a wedding, promises to a child, actions to the one's you are supposed to love most, dedication to our Church and to our family extended throughout the world, and commitment to follow Christ by taking up our crosses and following Him. None of these commitments are easy to stick to. All of them suck at some point or another, but isn't that the reason a commitment means something? Because we know that is means something, that is is important. When someone makes a vow to us, it puts our minds at ease, knowing that the other person is serious and is dedicating themselves to it. But if the fabric of how we feel and live with our commitments is shallow and unintentional, that peace of mind is void. We learn to be distrusting of any person when they say anything. Because we have been let down so many times.
I bet we all can count more people who have broken vows than kept them. This is sad. I have broken some too. There have been things I have told myself I wasn't going to do, and ended up right in that place with a decision to make, and often to my shame, I have made the wrong one. I think integrity is one of the biggest ways to show Christ and to express His love to others. Jesus stood by His commitment to us, His commitment to die and His commitment to raise again and make our lives wonderful. When we reflect this behavior and mindset, we show a very big part of what Jesus was to others. We give them peace of mind.
Sing.
Migrate.
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