The Trajectory of Integrity

“I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.” – psalm 101:2

How does this happen? What are the markings of a life led by integrity?

Some words that come to mind when I consider the word integrity:

Blameless, innocent, intentional, reflective, coherent, consistent, honest, authentic, concious, mindful, receptive, steadfast.

- Read this list again and ruminate on each of the words. Which ones especially stand out to you? What in this list surprises you or angers you? Pay special attention to you instant reactions and emotions. What else might you add or remove from this list?

I feel like God is calling me to step it up a notch in the way of integrity in my life. Integrity is for me a gift offered to me through the Holy Spirit. When I live centered not on myself but on the Lord, quickly I begin to sense things in a new way. I begin to look for what the Father is doing in this situation or that relationship. In a previous post I considered a life lived with relentless attention given to hearts: mine, God’s, and others. I believe a life oriented in this way opens me up to several things which leads to a life of integrity.

First, it opens me up to my own shadows and hypocrisy. When I am honestly looking into my own heart, discovering my wants and desires, I begin to see a pattern that either reflects light or darkness. This is the point where I become honest and authentic with myself- a key starting place on the road to integrity.

At the point where my attention to my own desires and the desires of God’s heart collide is where I see the narrow road I must walk toward integrity. Failure to bring God’s heart into the clear focus of my thoughts and prayers makes me humble, aware that my desires sometimes do, but often do not offer a sure path to the blameless walk of integrity I deeply desire. I must pay attention to my heart, yes, but only as long as I am willing to submit it to the Heart that I seeking after.

How do I trust that my attention to my own heart and the heart of God is authentic, and not a self-delusion I concocted in order to satisfy my own desires? I am convinced it is by paying relentless attention to the hearts of others as well. They bring the heart of God into clearer view, and they call me out when I am hiding my own heart from them, from God, or even myself. When a family of God pays unyielding attention to hearts, it launches each of them onto a trajectory of integrity and points them toward fulfilling their unique purpose God has prepared them to do on this earth.

I want to continue to process what happens when I am simply aware of the most powerful motivator in the universe: the human heart.

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