Meditations

Read Psalm 41:1-13

Flawed But Forgiven

O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you…
In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.
(Psalm 41:4,12)

The juxtaposition of these two verses presents a problematic incongruence. It appears that David is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand, he is connecting his personal sin with physical malady and public hostility. But on the other hand, he claims that it is his personal integrity that gives him favored status before the Almighty.

However, there is no incongruence for David—or for you and me. Yes, we are all helplessly flawed, but there is hope! You see, we can also be fully forgiven, and as a result, live under the high favor of God, if we are sincerely repentant for our sinfulness.

Living within God’s favor is not about sinless perfection. None of us will reach that lofty plane in this life. I wish we could—I especially wish I could. But because I have been fundamentally infected with sin, that will not happen until I reach heaven. I—and you—will continue to, as a good friend of mine was fond of saying, “dip ourselves in the yogurt” of sin until the day we die. And that sin will bring uncomfortable if not outright tragic consequences into our lives.

So how then can we claim a personal integrity that invites the attention, honor and favor of God? I would suggest there are three characteristics we can, and should cultivate, as David did, that will allow us as flawed people to be fully forgiven and highly favored:

First, we must cultivate self-awareness. Not an over-indulgence in introspection and self-absorption, but a healthy consciousness of both our strengths and weaknesses. I was recently speaking with a person about a relational crisis they were experiencing, and they were pouring out their heart about how difficult the other person was. When I asked them to share what flaws they brought into the troubled mix, I got a blank stare and an admission that they couldn’t think of any. That is not all that uncommon in troubled relationships. Although people are not always willing to be as honest as that person I had interviewed, many times they are simply unaware or unwilling to consider the pain and problems they are contributing to the situation. David was incredibly self-aware…and he often asked God to make him even more aware, painfully aware of his own flaws (see Psalms 26:2, 139:23-24). Maybe you should too!

Second, we must cultivate godly sorrow. Not self-pity, but godly sorrow. Self-pity leads only to depression; self-awareness without sorrow for sin brings only hopelessness, unproductive navel-gazing, and a pessimistic approach to life. However, as the Apostle Paul taught in II Corinthians 7:10-11, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, while worldly sorrow brings only death. I think that was the secret to a seriously flawed David’s favor with God—he experienced deep sorrow for his sins. Perhaps we should ask God to break our hearts quickly anytime we think, say or do anything that breaks his heart.

And third, self-awareness and godly sorrow must lead to sincere repentance. I’m not taking about feeling bad that we’ve been caught in a goof or are having to “pay the piper” for our imperfections. I’m talking about confessing our offense, making amends when we should and can, and turning from our sinful actions by walking an opposition line toward holiness and kingdom fruitfulness.

Well, that’s a mouthful—but I think you get the picture. That’s how you can be a “deeply flawed person of integrity” and live under the full forgiveness and high favor of the Almighty. And hallelujah, that is only possible with the God we serve!

“God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He
has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.”
—Augustine

Read Psalm 15

The Life God Blesses

“LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?”
Psalm 15:1

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 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.”

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!

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

I Peter 2

“Live such good lives among your unbelieving neighbors that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your
good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
(I Peter 2:12)

Thoughts… One of the greatest examples of integrity given to us in Scripture is the Old Testament character, Daniel. Daniel is remembered best for his miraculous deliverance from the lion’s den, but what got him there in the first place was his integrity.

He was a man of such solid character and indisputable integrity that his enemies couldn’t accuse him of any wrongdoing, so they accused him of “right doing”—and threw him into the lion’s den. But God used Daniel’s integrity not only for his deliverance, but to shame his enemies and as a platform to share his faith with the king of the Persian Empire.

Hopefully your integrity will not get you thrown into a lion’s den—although that does make a powerful testimony. But your integrity will open doors to share your faith with those who otherwise might not be ready to listen to the Good News.

In this verse, Peter says that your unbelieving neighbors will one day have to give glory to God if you live in such a way that your behavior matches what you’ve said you believe. That’s the irresistible power of the life of integrity. But that irresistible power doesn’t stop with just your unbelieving neighbors.

Even a godless society will have to take notice when, collectively, Christians live out what they preach (verses 13-17). So will the people in your workplace. When you “walk the walk” in the marketplace, people who don’t like you because of your faith will have to take notice of the God you claim (verses 18-20). And in the home, Christian wives will win their unbelieving husbands not by preaching at them, but by loving them as if they were loving Jesus himself. Likewise, husbands will really impress God if they love their wives as if they were loving Jesus himself (3:1-7).

It goes without saying that we need to be ready to verbalize our witness to unbelievers (3:15), but we will never be effective with our words if we first don’t have the witness of a life that matches those words. And even when we are prevented from speaking verbally, there is undeniable and irresistible power just in the integrity of our lives alone.

Our lives are Gospel…or at least they should be! So go forth and do the Good News. Be Jesus—then you’ll have the right to talk about him.  As St. Francis of Assisi said, preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words!

Prayer… Lord, on this day, help me to so live my life that people will see you in me.  Help me to be such a person of integrity that through the purity of my being, others will be drawn to you. “Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.”  —Oswald Chambers

One More Thing…

Read Titus 2

“Let everything you do reflect the integrity and
seriousness of your teaching.”
(Titus 2:7)

Thoughts… The key to stress-free living, an effective witness, and authentic discipleship is the convergence of your beliefs and your behavior. Conversely, the number one source of stress in your life, the single greatest destroyer of your witness, and the thing that impedes your walk with Christ as a disciple as much as anything are incongruent values—when your beliefs don’t match your behavior.

That’s why Paul is challenging Titus to practice what he is preaching. That’s your call as well. If you are going to talk the talk, then you ought to walk the walk. Christ followers who don’t are constantly trying to cover for their incongruent lives, and that’s the primary reason for why they live under so much stress. Likewise, their inconsistent and incongruent living exposes them as hypocrites. When they say one thing but doing another, their witness becomes worthless. Furthermore, the incongruence between their beliefs and their behavior critically damages their discipleship by violating the clear demand of Jesus that “if you love me, do what I say!”

Simply live out in your everyday life what you believe in your heart and you will live a great and God-honoring life. You will, as Paul says in verse 10, make your belief in God your Savior “attractive in every way.”

• If you believe in holiness, put off sinful living.
• If you believe in justice, practice fairness in all you do.
• If you believe in self-control, don’t get drunk.
• If you believe in purity, stay away from pornography.
• It you love the lost, witness to them.
• If you love the poor, serve them.
• If you love the body of Christ, show up to church.
• If you love God, start tithing.
• If you love your spouse, show it.
• If you love your parents, honor them.
• If you love your neighbor, don’t gossip about them.
• If you love yourself, eat right and exercise a little.
• If you love the Bible, read it.
• If you want less stress, live out your beliefs.
• If you want to point people to Christ, practice what you preach.
• If you want to be a disciple, do what Jesus commanded.

In everything you do, reflect the convergence of your belief with your behavior!

Prayer… Dear Lord, give me the grace and strength to do what I believe. May there always be integrity in my walk and congruence between my beliefs and my behavior. In everything I do, may I be pleasing to you and a living witness to a lost world of a loving God.

One More Thing… “I cannot find language of sufficient energy to convey my sense of the sacredness of private integrity.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson