Day 181: Don't Trade Your Integrity

Integrity -  adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

And integrity according to oxford dictionary means

-The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

Proverbs 11:3

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

As you’ve probably concluded by now, to day we are talking about integrity. So let’s start this off with a question;

Is whatever you want worth trading your integrity for?

Now I will answer that question. No. No it’s not, it is definitely not worth it. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Nothing should be worth throwing away your morals and beliefs, we have to stand for something. We have to hold on to something. The scripture says, the integrity of the upright guides them, now if we give that up we will not have any guidance. We all have a set of beliefs whether we are Christian or not, we all have something we believe in that we are not willing to give up. We are not willing to sacrifice or put on the line for anything or anyone. For many of us reading this devotional, that thing is our relationship with God. For me it is exactly that, there are many things I’m willing compromise on, one of those things is not my relationship with God, it’s not my morals. I live by my own morals and it makes me who I am, they influence the choices I make and where I go in my life. I am not willing to give that up or sacrifice it for anything. As an actor this is a subject that comes up for me a lot, whether I’m talking to my friends about it or checking myself on it. I love acting with every part of me, there’s is nothing else I see myself doing, I’ve been acting my whole life. However there are things more important to me than acting. As much as I love what I do, I love God more, I love my family more. I believe that’s what makes me a better actor is that, yes this is very high on my list of priorities, but it’s great to know that something in my life is higher. There will always be a reason as to why I act. I refuse to trade my integrity for acting, because I stand for something bigger and that allows me to be a better artist.

One of the shows I recently binge-watched is, ‘Jane the Virgin’, a show centered around a young woman, Jane (the amazing Gina Rodriguez), who has made a vow not to have sex until she is married. Many of us in the church have taken this vow and knows what it’s like. However, there are times throughout the show when she decides she’s just gonna do it, and every time something comes in the way of it, even on her wedding night. But when she has sex for the first she is married, and later on she talks about how happy she is that she waited until she was married.

Now I’m not here to talk about sex, and waiting for marriage. I wanted to use that as an example that holding on to your integrity and your beliefs is so worth it in the end. There is nothing more rewarding than standing for what you believe in. I know we all want so much out of our lives, and we all want to get to “that place”. Whatever that “that place” is for you, you know what I’m talking about, it’s different for everyone. What I’m saying is, getting to the top doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice or trade in your integrity, just to get there a bit quicker. We can do that to get to where we are going quick but as fast as we go up we’ll come down even quicker. There is something beautiful about holding on to your beliefs, even if it means it takes a bit longer, and it’s a little harder. But you know that once you get there, wherever ‘there’ is, once you’re there, you’ll know that you didn’t have to trade anything or compromise at any point. God works in mysterious ways and He shows favor to His people. Hold on to that, you’d be surprised at what He does in your life. He is looking for people who will remain committed to Him, even when fighting temptation feels like pulling a ton of bricks. Hold on to your faith, hold on to your morals, hold on to your integrity because it will be so rewarding in the long run.

This can be with anything, of course our relationship with God comes first, but after that whatever personal morals or vows you’ve made to yourself. Don’t trade them in. Stick it out, it’ll be so worth the wait.

Reflection

1. What are some of the beliefs and morals you hold dear?
2. Are you willing to sacrifice them?
3. Based on your answer to the above question, why or why not?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about holding on to your integrity and standing firm on your beliefs. Have a conversation Him.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 182!