If there is one quality I look for in a person, this is it. If there is one thing that I believe can define your success, happiness and quality of life- this is it. And yet, we don’t talk about it enough. We don’t challenge each other on it, nearly enough. And, as a result, our lives have a lot less substance.
Integrity- being totally honest and truthful in every part of your life. Or to put it in less wikipedia-I-googled-a-definition terms: “do I mean what I say?” or “are my actions honest?” C S Lewis says: “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”
Whew, it’s a big one right? I’m sure we can all think of examples of where we’ve let it slip. You met someone and said: “let’s hang out, but you didn’t do anything about it. Or, you didn’t respond to someone’s message because you don’t feel like it. Or maybe, you do one thing at work while the boss is watching and another when they are gone for the day.
Maybe you don’t bring drinks to a party when the host asks you to contribute? Perhaps you talk about someone when you know that you shouldn’t. Or you don’t pitch up at something you RSVP’d to and pull out at the last moment. Integrity is in the little things and it usually filters through to the bigger things.
At the end of the year I like to do an “Integrity Report”. 2015 is coming to a close, Cape Town summer is bursting like a popcorn kernel, shops are playing cheesy jingle bell songs on repeat, you can’t buy a potato without standing in a queue for 30 minutes, everyone is throwing New Year’s invites at you as if they are wedding confetti and you gain 1 kg just by looking at the list of year-end gatherings you are required to attend. On top of all this you have a few days off. There’s time to sit in the heat or jump in a pool, or read a good book. There’s time to reflect, to pull out a journal and say to yourself – hey how did I do?
Everyone starts their year saying I’m going to get better at this or, I’ll do this, or I won’t do that. Then we don’t hold ourselves accountable to what we say and we don’t see the level of growth we desire. I don’t know what you think, but I think the end of the year is a good time to revisit your core values and evaluate. It’s so easy to say stuff and not do it. But, integrity and being mindful of how you are doing in this area is crucial – here’s why:
- Integrity enhances all your other values.
- Integrity is the foundation of character, and your character not your reputation, is what defines you as a person.
- As you improve in integrity you invite better people into your life.
- Dishonesty or a lack of integrity always has a nasty pay check.
- Building integrity takes years but can be lost in an instance. It’s important to keep checking ourselves and reminding ourselves not to cut corners.
- Success without integrity is an empty win.
- Integrity is rated as the most important quality in a leader.
When my year draws to a close I ask myself these two questions:
- How am I living with integrity?
- How can I do better?
The questions make me sweat internally. They also make me realise a lot of the times I slip up where I could be better.
It’s difficult to have a life of integrity, which is why we need guidance and help. Jesus never lied, and His actions define integrity. He is the help we need to live a life of integrity. Once we come to Christ in faith and repentance, He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit who assists us in developing our incorruptible integrity.
Can I encourage you, as your year rolls to an end and the chapter titled 2015 turns its last page, to think about your character. Think about your integrity and ask yourself the hard questions. We can all grow, improve our characters, and be a person remembered for all the right reasons.