What is the life God blesses? David couldn’t have spelled it out any clearer than in Psalm 15: It is the life of integrity! The person of complete integrity, which I realize, in the truest sense is redundant—spiritual, relational, financial, moral, intellectual, physical integrity—is the one upon whom God’s favor, power and provision will rest.

Now integrity is a word that gets thrown around a great deal these days—and that’s part of the problem: It gets thrown around instead of lived out. So just what is integrity? I think the simplest and best definition I know is this: The congruence of what you believe with how you behave. For the Christian, it is the marriage of Biblical values, principles and world-view with our moment-by-moment attitudes and actions. In short, it is to practice what we preach at all times and under every circumstance.

David provides some very specific areas of integrity that are absolutely critical to living under the blessing of God:

• Moral Purity—Verse 2: “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous.”
• Compassionate Honesty—Verse 2: “who speaks the truth from his heart.”
• Rejection of Destructive Opinion—Verse 3: “and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman.”
• Revulsion of Evil People—Verse 4: “who despises a vile man.”
• Promotion of Good People—Verse 4: “but honors those who fear the LORD.”
• Ruthless Trustworthiness—Verse 4: “who keeps his oath when it hurts.”
• Risky Generosity—Verse 5: “who lends his money without usury.”
• Rigid Honor—Verse 5: “and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.”

Any person who lives organically, unbendingly and consistently this way will themselves be living, as verse 5 concludes, in the stability and security of the palm of the Heavenly Father’s hand: “He who does these things will never be shaken.”

The tides of an increasingly nasty culture and the natural drift of our own falleness will make living out this kind integrity extremely difficult. We will have to fight opposite currents every day, if not every moment of our lives. But such a well-lived life will be worth it along the way and at the end of our journey. It is the only way to live!

Besides, if we invite him, Better Hands will guide and empower us on the voyage!

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“Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.” (Oswald Chambers)

Making Life Work: Any person who lives organically, unbendingly and consistently this way will themselves live, as verse 5 concludes, in the stability and security of the palm of the Heavenly Father’s hand: “He who does these things will never be shaken.” Take a moment to resubmit your life and your ways to those Heavenly Hands!