Integrity has been on my mind alot lately. The world is full of injustices…but, what if we all presented and expected integrity in equal measure? What is integrity? The dictionary say it is the state of being sound or whole, to conduct yourself honestly, or to adhere to a strict code of moral and ethical principals. When I look at the word, my mind breaks it down into two words…inter grit…or in other words, the internal substance of what someone is made of. We all have different values and morals…so who’s is right?
I think when people are being honest with themselves…through word, thought or action…they know when they are operating with integrity, either in their personal or business relationships. There is no regret, no shame or guilt, no need to stretch the truth or exaggerate a situation, no need for lies…no need to over-hype how something is presented when someone is operating with a responsible personal integrity. People who choose to operate without integrity know it in their hearts. They don’t feel good about their thoughts, their words, or their actions when they make choices that violate their own standards of integrity. It may manifest itself in feelings of shame or regret, or with a general sense of feeling unworthy of accolades/rewards or, even financial success; it is possible that they will have unexplained health problems.
Inner conflict happens when we are at odds with our understanding of what is right and what is wrong. Most of us have a keen sense of what is right and what is wrong in how others treat us, correct? I know I do. Even young children have a strong sense of justice/injustice; they are quick to point out when something is not fair or right.
So, my question is…do we present integrity in our relationships in the same way that we expect others to show us integrity of high value?
I have been reading a book discussing people and their internal conflict about what they should do with their time on earth; as far as, a job or a purpose in life. One particular story troubled me. It was about a man who lived in a financially depressed area of the world. He had difficulty finding and maintaining a job. He took a job with a casino. At first, he was just a little uncomfortable with the idea of it…gambling. As he worked and collected his pay check…he became desensitized to the environment that encouraged people to bet/gamble money that they didn’t really have to waste. He comforted himself with the idea that there were no other jobs where he lived so he continued working there.
As time went on, he faced his inner conflict about the integrity of working for a place that disregarded the fact that gambling went against what he believed to be ok; until he heard his co-workers making fun of an elderly man who was weeping at one of the gaming tables, having lost thousands of dollars that he did not have to lose. He was disqusted with them and told them to stop making fun of this man and his tears of desperation. They then chose to make fun of him. Rather than stand up for what he believed, he ran away…doing nothing, changing nothing. He went to a spiritual counselor, (a poor one in my opinion), who told him not to make any rash decisons, basically, to just hang in there until something different came along. Now this man was telling his spiritual advisor that he didn’t feel like he deserved God’s love or anyone else’s love either; he was wounding himself by not acting on his personal sense of integrity. Was the spiritual advisor acting with personal/spiritual integrity? I don’t think so personally.
Some time passed and the man became ill and went to his doctor…the doctor correctly told him he was depressed and prescribed a pill. Instead of sending the man to a counselor/therapist…he gave him a pill. Was the doctor acting with integrity…maybe/maybe not. Maybe we don’t have all of the facts here…maybe he prescribed him the pill and requested he seek counseling; I dont know. If not…should he have done so to fulfill his personal/professional integrity? In my opinion, yes, he should have sought the source of the man’s depression…not just treat the symptoms with a pill.
What would options look like, to someone in this working man’s position? Stay in the job and hate what you do…and possibly yourself, for what you are doing to earn a living when it goes against your personal beliefs? Quit the job and hope another one comes along? Stay in the job; but, actively look for new employment? Leave the area and find a job in another environment that is more in line with his sense of personal integrity; one that honors what he believes to be true and right? Commute back and forth for an hour or more a day to an area where jobs were more plentiful? Maybe work online to provide financial income for himself? What would be the choice that would fulfill his need for income as well as allow him to honor his beliefs about what is right and wrong?
It could very well be the choice that causes him to sacrifice his personal comfort zone…leading him to leave his home area and move to an area where his choices for jobs were not limited to something that violated his sense of right and wrong. Or, put extra burdeon on his time by requiring him to commute, back and forth, each day to get employment that he could live happily with. He could have chosen to work at home on the computer…or gone to school to increase his ability to get hired by learning new skills. Only this man knows what would have worked best for him and his physical and spiritual well-being.
What did this man do? He stayed working where he felt it was wrong to work and took his pill to make it acceptable to himself. Was that employing the best level of integrity that he possessed? Or did it just allow him to numb himself to the inner voice that was encouraging him to make changes that would allow him to take pride in what he did for a living?
There is nothing sadder than a person who knows to do right and chooses to do wrong because you know that it is not only harming himself/herself; but, possibly others as well. Every choice we make or avoid affects other people. Scripture gives us all kinds of instruction on this area of life. Isaiah 1:17 says, Stop doing wrong, learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Exodus 23: 2 says, Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. Making decisions in our lives is important because those decisions affect how we see ourselves and our place in the world; if we want to live with peace in our hearts and minds we must make those decisions that uphold who we are based on our own personal integrity; no matter how difficult those decisions may seem at the time.
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