INTEGRITY

Integrity,

According to secular terms

1)    Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

a.        The state of being unimpaired; soundness.

b.        The quality or condition of being whole or undivided, completeness.

According to religious terms

2)    Integrity, comes to us in the Hebrew and is found many times in the Old Testament. And is translated from the Heb.<Tome> (tum-mah) which is the fem. of (tom) – tome –

a.    Innocence, Innocent,

b.    Completeness, full, fullness, upright,

                                    i.    Doing right, living righteously, accepting  no evil or wrong,

                                   ii.    Sincerity, sincere, honest, and of a moral character.

3)    The word integrity is not used in the New Testament, however, the word virtue is used in it’s place. “Virtue” comes to us from the Greek (Arete), and has a simple translation.  Although, several links in this word from the root word. 

a.    Virtue – (Arete) –

                                    i.    Of particular moral goodness, or excellence fullness, completeness.

                                   ii.    A practice of a moral code of life…..

There was a point in time when a simple handshake was the bond and seal of an agreement between two individuals.  If someone said they would do something, they generally did it. 

There seemed to be a different value placed on what is right and wrong than today.  However, that was a time when people valued other people based on character and what that person stood for.  A time when people stood for something, not what would be politically correct, as defined by the radical leadership in Washington DC. 

Once I laid blame at the door of the radical left, such as Pelosi, Reid, Obama and his ‘chamber of horrors’ referred to as his Czars and his ideologies.  However, that is actually incorrect; blame is shared across the political spectrum. 

Integrity was that character quality, which parents taught to children by the way they lived their lives.  What was important to them became important to the children.  

The integrity of our nation was the integrity of the people.  Today, our nation seems absorbed with our ‘image’ abroad more than the image at home.

It is my studied opinion that our foreign image is faring as good as it ever has.  Point is more people of foreign birth are immigrating to the U.S. than ever before.  Not since 1850 has the immigrant percentage of the U.S. population been as high, of course, neither has the U.S. population been as high. 

Our integrity has been compromised by our leadership, and then it trickles down to the individual, rich or poor, black, white, purple, red, blue; the buck stops with us as individuals.  It is the individual accepting what the politicians tell us is right and acceptable.  And as children we emulate the leadership’s integrity.

Over the course of the next several months, I will attempt to write ‘news worthy’ articles, which reflect integrity, or the lack thereof, as those events, fall within politics or religion, which is my passion.  If attempting this self imposed, assignment seems a bit awkward it is not, as integrity is one of the many foes of our social environment, and where we, as a nation, may find ourselves in the end.  Moreover, the eroding of Christian integrity will be the infamous ‘shot  across the bow’ to the church and their future condition as prophesized in the book of Revelation. 

For me, I will continue to use the opportunity to tell it like it is, praying that God uses me in some way to effect the changes that are needed in His church and His blessed country to reestablish integrity. 

Thanks   PB