Truth and Integrity

Have mercy on me, O God,
       according to your unfailing love;
       according to your great compassion
       blot out my transgressions.

  Wash away all my iniquity
       and cleanse me from my sin.

  For I know my transgressions,
       and my sin is always before me.

  Against you, you only, have I sinned
       and done what is evil in your sight,
       so that you are proved right when you speak
       and justified when you judge.

  Surely I was sinful at birth,
       sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

  Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
       you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Psalms 51:1-6

 

In the last posting, we talked about carrying our cross and following Christ by our devotion to Him and by submitting to His authority. In order for us to follow Him, we must walk with integrity. In this Psalm, we hear the crying out for mercy of David to the Lord for the sin in his life. In order to know the joy that comes from walking in truth and living a life of integrity, we must recognize and confess our sin before the Lord because our sin not only brings harm to our own life but it dishonors the name of God.

Whenever we take a wrong step, there will always be those who are standing over us to point a buoyant finger because we have disgraced the name of the Lord. Not only that but Satan will always be there to remind us of how appalling we are and that God could never forgive our sin. Of course, Satan is lying but he will use whatever means (people, situations, etc) to remind us constantly of our sin in order for us to forget God's unconditional love for us and the sacrifice that Christ made upon the cross. We must remember there is not a sin that God will not forgive although there may be consequences and discipline. God will always wipe away our sin if we just confess and seek His forgiveness.

We also have to learn that when we sin, we must face the reality of the bad choices we made and the fact that we sinned and disobeyed God by knowing right yet still choosing wrong. We can either choose to justify our actions or make excuses or we can step up to the plate and walk with integrity and repent before the Lord for the poor choices we have made in our life and this is just what David did.

For I know my transgressions,
       and my sin is always before me.

  Against you, you only, have I sinned
       and done what is evil in your sight,
       so that you are proved right when you speak
       and justified when you judge.

When we choose to follow Christ, we not only declare to ourselves but to our family, friends and the world that our trust is found in Christ alone and that we are choosing to stand for His truth. God has called us to be totally and completely honest in our inner being and not to be deceived by the things that others get away with or the justification in their minds for their own sin. When we fail, we must always be willing to admit our guilt and confess before the Lord in order to walk with integrity. We must strive to live with truth in our inner most being and remind ourselves that only God and God alone knows what is in our heart and because of this, we should live in honesty and truth.

"Father I pray for honesty and truth in my life. Help me to desire truth in my inner most being so that I may walk righteously down the path that You have prepared for me. May I take up my cross and follow you completely, declaring Your truth in my life not just to You or myself but to the world around me."