Marks of a Disciple 9: Integrity

Integrity is the application of purity and righteousness. It is when your inner character and outer actions match. It is a quality that intimates doing anything other than what is right is not an option. There are high boundaries and a high level of follow-through. Sustained evidence is desired. A person of integrity is someone you can trust implicitly. It shows up in a disciple who is honorable and faithful. 

This disciple goes inward for the spiritual strength that is uncompromising.

Jesus tells an unconvincing parable about an unrighteous and shrewd manager. The manager’s master surprisingly praises him for his creative but dishonest solution to save his job. But since Jesus told this parable while the Pharisees were there, it means that this message was for them. He said,

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Luke 16:10

The bottom line is that those who have integrity show it in the smallest things. A disciple with integrity is trusted by others and trusted by God to wield His power in this world.

Whatever he or she does in the name of Jesus is to be done heartily, as if for the Lord alone. Col 3:17, 23-24.

The heart is the base of emotions but the word heartily, in the Greek, literally means “from the soul.” Jewish tradition holds that the soul is the seat of emotions. Either way, integrity is not a sterile way of thinking, it has an emotional aspect. 

Identify where you would like to grow in integrity. How is your heart involved?

Integrity is tested by faithfulness, and a trustworthy disciple is constant. He hungers for righteous living, lines up his inner character with the character of God, and acts. Integrity is an essential mark of a disciple.

Faithful God, fill my heart with Your love and righteousness so that I may be faithful in the little things, and also faithful in the big things You bring up for me. Show me what right living looks like. Transform my inner self to look more like You. I want to be Your faithfulness for others. Amen.