The Gift of Integrity

This time of year, while I’m checking the list of what our kids want for Christmas, I try to get what they need, too.
Integrity may not be as high on our son’s Christmas list as, say, Wii, but it’s a lot more practical in the long run. Unfortunately, integrity will cost me more, too.
Integrity is not as easy as it sounds.
When we think of integrity, we think of a person who consistently does what is right.
Just when I think my heart attitude and my behavior are starting to reflect some kind of maturity, I goof up. Fifty years of practicing the goof-ups just takes it toll, I guess.
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a workable solution to the problem of integrity; I simply re-defined the word.
If you like this definition, it can be yours:
Being the “you” that God designed and expressing it in a way that blesses others.
Somehow as humans, we got the message that we are expected to be perfect. Maybe that’s because the New Testament Greek word for mature is frequently translated, poorly, as perfect.
Perfect brings to mind cookie-cutter people who never make mistakes. How boring! Even scary, like test-tube, lab designed perfection.
We associate perfection with a wrath-full God and miss the point.
God designed us to be human, not demi-gods. Actually, the effort to be god-like is the very presumption that got Satan, then Eve, then Adam, into trouble in the first place. Oh yeah, and the rest of us, too.
No, as we seek maturity, what we should be emulating is God’s sacrificial nature. A pretty tall order for folks with clay feet and fifty years of practicing selfish goof-ups.
Maturity means expressing sacrifice in a way that is unique to our own God-designed personality.
God, who knows us so well and loves us in the very moment of our human frailties and goof-ups, gave us a helpful hint in the form of the Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule. So Simple. So straightforward.
Even the smallest child can quote it. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So easy to wrap your brain around.
Unfortunately, the heart has a mind of its own.
For those momentary lapses when the Golden Rule slips beyond our grasp, there’s always confession.
The right heart attitude plus confession equals a restored balance.
Integrity, not perfection.
Not being god-like, just being human with an emphasis on sacrifice and confession.
Now there’s a kind of integrity I can relate to.
It won’t replace the goof-ups altogether, but with a little practice, it might prove to be simpler to pass along to my kids.
At Christmas or any time, integrity is the perfect gift.