“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. – Psalm 15 (NLT).
Psalm 15 starts with Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.” David ends the Psalm with a statement that should interest all of us:
“Such people will stand firm forever.”
Don’t you want to stand firm forever for your life? Wouldn’t we all like to live with a consistency that does not waver or fade? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have people stand up at our funeral and testify to our consistent and godly character? Our integrity? Who wouldn’t want to have people testify that they saw Jesus in the way you lived your life?
What are the core characteristics of integrity? Some of them include speaking the truth, loving our neighbors, keeping our word and doing what we say we will do. In short, a Christian has integrity – and shows that integrity by being truthful, loving, honoring, and trustworthy.
In verse 3 we read “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.” This is integrity. It is the result of having all the other characteristics listed in Psalm 15. It is the evidence, and the fruit of all the other traits. You can’t be a person of integrity, if you are not doing these things.
The Psalmist also points out that even with the character traits that contribute to a lasting legacy, it does not guarantee that we will not have problems and challenges in our life. However, the person of integrity can live without regret by having a clear path to follow. A person of integrity will be respected and a person people will value in difficult times in their lives.
So here is the question: Do others view you as a person of integrity? Would people who read this passage think of you as an example of the kind of person David is describing? I encourage you to use this Psalm as a guide for your own prayers. Take these characteristics one by one and ask God to reveal where you are falling short. Take aim at those areas of weakness. Make them a matter of prayer, and then work on them with the help of the Holy Spirit.
God calls us to be as diligent about developing godly integrity regardless of our season of life we are currently in. Godly integrity will not come to us naturally. We must pursue it and if we do, then it will be the foundation of our legacy.
Discussion Questions:
- How would you define integrity?
- Integrity is giving your word and keeping it. Agree or disagree?
- Titus 2:7 (NLT) says, “And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.” Can your integrity serve as an example and contribute to your legacy? If so, how?
- What steps can you take this week to work towards godly integrity?