Among the books I have read this year, two of those talked about one issue that dealt with me a great deal. Not as if I do not know about the issue they raised, but at that point, it was gnawing me with such newness and a deep sense of responsibility demanding a practical and truthful response. I strongly believe knowing, learning, and living out this variable will not only help me and you make our lives count but it will make our lives last.
When was the last time you had a conflict within yourself because who people thought you were in the public was far away from the real person you are in the secret? I have been there before, what about you? I have met people that I thought do not care about what I do, little did I know that they hold me in high esteem, but deep inside I am the opposite, since then, I started watching my life closely. So let’s talk about integrity today.
I was telling a friend yesterday night that this is one topic I dread writing or talking about because it is a double-edged sword that pierces both the writer and the reader. It doesn’t condone mediocrity, it excuses no one, it gives you no option of sitting on the fence, you are either in or out. I don’t want to delve into any dictionary definitions of what integrity entails (I will rather leave you to that), my task in this piece is to buttress the fact that we need integrity to make our lives count and to whet our appetite into building a character of integrity. I need it, you need it, we all need it.
What then does it mean to be a man or woman of integrity? Simply put, it is being one with your thoughts, words, and actions. Myles Munroe said integrity stems from the word ‘integrated” or to be “one’. Thus, to have integrity means to have an integrated self, this entails: who you are, what you say, what you do, and how you appear all agree or align. Hence, to be a man of integrity, you do not need to worry about what you say as to whether it aligns with your actions or thoughts or not.
Why Integrity?
Lack of integrity has a lot to do with the chaos and crisis we are facing in our personal lives, families, communities, churches, government, and every organized stratum of life today. The first book I read that talked about this issue was “How to influence people” by John C. Maxwell, and the first thing he established was that a person of influence has integrity with people. A man of character will be a man of integrity, this is because character lays the foundation for integrity.
John C. Maxwell said, “Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, to people overpower, to principles over convenience to the long view than the immediate”. Can you imagine our leaders being people of integrity in the light of this statement? Our world would have been a better place. John C. Maxwell added that integrity is not for sale, it is never outdated and it is also about the little things. Hence, integrity is what you build and earn overtime, it is a product of a good track record.
How does this relate to you? How can this help make your life count? I would answer these questions with more questions. Would you rather want a fragmented life? A life that you live in fear and have to always think hard just to reconcile your words and your actions at all times? Would you rather want a life that people have to always question and second guess everything you say because you cannot be trusted and there is always parity between your words and actions?
When I dropped John C. Maxwell’s book, I had to write a simple statement of commitment of integrity to hold myself accountable. Why? I came to realize that integrity will make my life easy, it will synthesize my life to not worry about cross-checking what I do as to whether they agree with my words or not. Truth is, I had to remind myself that people are looking up to me, and the fastest way to influence them is when they see and know that I am a man of integrity (this is such a huge responsibility). And yet, the fastest way to lose them is when they see otherwise.
Integrity makes you trustworthy, and trust opens the door for you to influence people and when you influence people even in the crudest and the littlest way, you are making your life count. Integrity shields and safeguard you from the destructiveness of power, fame, sex, and money.
Let me anchor this here that integrity is a character or inside job. It has nothing to do with your credentials or what you have accrued in life, it remains regardless of circumstances, it is what gives you a good name or reputation. Again, integrity makes your life easy and saves you from the confusion of who you truly are both in public or the secret. It was Nathaniel Hawthorne who said, “no man can for any considerable time wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one”.
Are you a person of integrity? Can you say it and not worry about people questioning you doing it? Do you struggle to marry your thoughts, words, and actions? Can you be trusted to be who you say or claimed you are? This statement by John C. Maxwell pierced deep in this regard: “One of the realities of life is that if you can’t trust a person at all points, you can’t truly trust him or her at any point”. Can you be trusted?
Allow me to remind you again that life is short, live it well, live it right, count on God, have good relationships, build character, have a good name, and be a person of integrity. Integrity in its real sense is when you think it, say it, mean it, and live it till you need not prove it.
Thank you for reading
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