More Integrity Means More Value

My Heart Is On Fire by Doug Apple - a short Christian devotional to open the Scriptures and make your heart burn within you!

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32) I have a favorite pair of boots. Unfortunately they now have a crack in the bottom. Fortunately I can still wear them, just not in the rain. They still look nice, but they won’t keep my feet dry. These boots have lost some integrity, and so they have lost some of their value to me. I have a favorite pair of tennis shoes, and I do mean tennis shoes. I wear them to play tennis. But now the sole is coming loose, which is not good for making sharp lateral moves on a tennis court. I still wear them…when washing the car. Those shoes have lost some of their integrity, and so they have lost some of their value. I have a favorite belt. It was my favorite dress belt, nice and black with a sharp silver buckle. I thought it was a high value, but then it started looking bad. Oh, it still holds pants up, but it’s supposed to be a dress belt. It has to look good, and it no longer does. It has lost some of its integrity, and so it has lost some of its value. I still wear it…when working in the yard. Integrity means something is sound. It is whole. It is complete. It is unimpaired. It is not corrupted. When you buy a house, you want a house with as much integrity as possible. And you want a realtor with as much integrity as possible. More integrity means more value. If I want to be a more valuable person, then I need to be a person of integrity, without corruption. Integrity in a person means being honest, with strong moral principles, with moral uprightness. They are morally consistent, without moral corruption. A man or woman of integrity has more value. They can do more. They can be trusted with more. Luke 16:10 says, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Now listen to this little revelation. Who is the boss? Who controls the room? Who is the actual leader in any given situation? It’s going to be the person with the most moral authority, and moral authority is built on integrity. Jesus had the most moral authority of anyone who ever walked the earth. He was also of the highest value who did the most good. Do you want to raise your value…in the marketplace? In the community? In your family? Then raise your level of integrity, because more integrity means more value. Proverbs 10:9 says, “He who walks in integrity walks securely…” Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Proverbs 19:1 says it’s better to be poor and live with integrity than the alternative. Proverbs 20:7 says, “The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.” Are you ready to take your life to the next level? Then you can no longer be the boot with the crack in it. You can no longer be the slip shod shoe. You can’t be the belt that lets its beauty slip away. It’s time to raise the bar of our integrity, to live at the highest moral level, and to set aside all the compromises that make us weaker. If we want to be more valuable, then we must have more integrity. And then we can walk in the full moral authority that Jesus wants us to. May God bless you today. I’m Doug Apple.