| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity” Our Bible verse for today: “Better a poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who distorts right and wrong.” Proverbs 28:6 (CSB) Our thought for today: “We need men and women of character and integrity” In my opinion, in our society today, character and integrity are no longer the highly regarded virtues they once were. Instead, relativism and expediency seem to be the dominant operative values. Rather than taking a stand on principle, many people choose the path of least resistance. And, doing so is often seen as being smart rather than as evidence of weakness or of a character flaw. Character, as I’m using it, refers to moral and ethical strength. A person of character has a personal code of conduct which they believe in strongly, value deeply, and which they refuse to compromise. Synonyms for this meaning of character include courage, strength, honor, rectitude, uprightness, morality, goodness, scrupulousness, and honesty. Integrity is similar but slightly different. Integrity is the quality of having strong moral principles about which you are steadfast, and which then govern the way you conduct yourself. Synonyms for integrity include words like honesty, probity, truthfulness, veracity, sincerity, and courage. Character is about who you are. Integrity is more about how you act. When your character is strong you then live with integrity. Being a person of strong character and absolute integrity is often described as having moral fiber and intestinal fortitude. People with strong character and integrity are the ones who have the courage to take a stand on principle, even if doing so is costly. Those who are weak in these areas lean towards expediency and the path of least resistance. Our society needs more men and women of character and integrity. We have far too many who are morally weak rather than strong, and fearful rather than courageous. Therefore, they compromise and capitulate when they should stand firm for truth and righteousness. Sadly, this is even true in the Christian community. All this month we will explore character and integrity as taught by God in the Bible, and we’ll consider what true character and integrity looks like in actual practice. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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