Because of my integrity you uphold me, and you set me in your presence forever. –Psalm 41:12

I remember signing an academic honesty statement at Clemson University. It basically said that I would not cheat in any way whatsoever in any of my classes. The idea is that if a student has academic integrity, the grades they receive are the grades they actually earned. In 2007, thirty thousand students were anonymously questioned about cheating. 60.8% of the respondents admitted that they have cheated. In every poll I’ve ever seen, the number is always between 50% and 75%.

Most students lack integrity.

The word integrity evolved from the Latin word integer. As a math teacher, I have used the word integer quite frequently. Integers are defined as positive and negative whole numbers. Fractional values and decimal values are incomplete and therefore don’t get to be called integers.

In my main verse for this WMD, David says God holds him up and allows him to experience His presence because of his integrity. There is no partiality with David. In God, he is whole. He is complete.

In the Christian life, a follower of Jesus must have integrity. Every man and woman who calls himself or herself a Christian must have no disconnect between their words and their actions. What they say they believe and the way they actually live must match up or they lack integrity.

Integrity for me is an ever-increasing thing. I had too many years as a teenager and young adult where I had no integrity. I called myself a Christian, but I acted just like the world. I would actually tell people I was a Christian, then turn around and say and do sinful things; things I knew in my heart went directly against God and His commands. Consequently, I never felt like God was really with me.

There was a specific moment in time where integrity started to mean something to me. God was allowing me to sink in life. I had no integrity; therefore He had neither reason nor obligation to hold me up. I knew men who experienced His Presence and I wanted what they had. The only difference in our lives was the fact that they actually seemed to live out their faith in God; I only talked about it. Therefore, I knelt beside my bed asked God to help me start actually doing Christianity.

Life has never been the same. He has never failed to hold me up. In addition, He sends me a very real sense of His presence at just the right times. His eyes are constantly circling the globe looking for hearts fully committed to Him.

Is your heart completely committed to Him? Are your words and your actions integrated?

Examine yourself today. Does what you say you believe and how you actually live match up? Do you feel like God is holding you up? Are you experiencing His Presence?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Amen.

Later

Adam