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When Tony Dungy was coaching with the Indianapolis Colts, the organization believed that character was a quality that can be measured just like height, weight, and speed. “Coaching ability or talent cannot make up for a lack of character,” Coach Dungy would say. That conviction fueled their organization to put more emphasis on character than the mere physical tools of athleticism.
In the draft, there were only a few things that would take a player out of consideration for their team, and the issue of character was one of them. Under Dungy’s leadership, the Colts had a category on their evaluation form that was labeled “DNDC”—Do Not Draft because of Character. Every year, many players fell into this category and were passed up because of something the coaching staff saw in their character that made them not worth the risk.
“Character is the total spectrum of what you are,” explains Coach Dungy. And in a world that presumes moving up is more important than the way you move up, this Character-based type of leadership is a rare breed.
Every day your integrity is being challenged by a culture that has made falsehood and dishonesty a norm. Whether it’s cheating on that exam, skewing the time card at work, exaggerating that business expense, fudging the tax report, downloading music illegally from the Internet, watching pirated movies on the computer, a secret affinity with pornography, or telling little white lies; these inner character parasites eat away at your integrity and the very strands of your moral fiber, one by one.
Our English word ‘integrity’ comes from a Latin word meaning “soundness, wholeness, or blamelessness.” Its root is found in the word integer, meaning “whole” or “intact.” It is defined as soundness of moral character, honesty, the state of being whole, undivided, internal consistency, or lack of corruption. It implies a level of living in wholeness and truth in all aspects of our lives.
Therefore, integrity is much more than just being honest. It makes us whole.
God’s Word offers this admonition in Proverbs 11:3: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”
Scripture lays out many benefits of living with integrity: We see in Nehemiah 7 that it can give us promotion the right way. In Psalm 84:11, we see that integrity grants favor and honor, and opens the door for good things to come into our lives. A man of integrity can find contentment even when he has meager means (Proverbs 19:1). It brings clarity and guidance to our lives (Proverbs 11:3). It gives us an eternal heritage (Psalm 37:18). It fosters unfailing blessings upon our children (Proverbs 20:7). And it conforms us more to the image and likeness of Jesus Himself (Matthew 22:16).
We live in a society that has become obsessed with success at any cost. We say the end justifies the means. But wisdom gives us a better way.
Paul told the Philippians to “approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:10-11).
The word “sincere” comes from two Latin words: sine (without) and cera (wax), meaning “without wax.”
In ancient Rome, people relied on clay dishes, cups, and pots. It took many hours for a potter to shape, fire the dish (in a handmade kiln), and cool the piece. Unfortunately, with the uneven heat of a wood-fired furnace, cracks would often show up in the clay during the cooling process. A true craftsman would shatter the blemished piece and start all over. But an unscrupulous potter would fill in the cracks with hard, dark wax, paint over the whole thing, and then sell it as new. The cracked vessel might hold up fine the first few times it was used. But if something really hot was placed inside it, the wax would soon melt and expose the defect. That’s why honest potters began putting the inscription “without wax” on the bottom of their pots. It was an inscription that meant this was a vessel that had been skillfully made, had been through the fires, and would stand the test of time. It was a vessel of sincerity, or integrity.
That is what Paul meant when he prayed that the believers in Philippi would be “sincere and without offense”—that they would be without wax. So Paul was essentially saying, “Move forward in your life with nothing to hide.” We don’t have to wax ourselves up to impress others. We don’t have to go after success in ways that dishonor God and erode our character. As sincere followers of Jesus, integrity should govern our lives in such a fashion that the reality of His presence is clearly seen in who we are.
Remember, what you are accomplishing is not nearly as important as the person you are becoming.
Let the virtue of integrity guard your heart in all sincerity as you abide in Him today.
Integrity is much more than just being honest. It makes us whole. It means you can move forward in life with nothing to hide.
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