Check your Posture
Part of True Grit
February 26, 2023

True Grit.jpg

There is a pressure upon all of us to compromise our integrity. But when we are more concerned about our reputations than our integrity, we eventually damage both.

Have you ever lied in an attempt to assure someone that you can be trusted?

Sometimes we are willing to be bad if that’s what it takes to look good.

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” —Proverbs 11:3 (ESV)

People who have integrity have a guide for life. But too many people are not guided by integrity.

Integrity should guide us. But what competes for that role in your life?

Your posture influences your future.
Notice that the verse gives two postures; upright and crooked.

What does it mean to be upright?
What does it mean to be crooked?
Why do we sometimes choose crookedness?

Eventually there is a price to pay for the lack of integrity. And the price is destruction.
So we need to be asking “what guides us” before we are tested so that we are ready.

Consider the story of Jesus being tempted.

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. 3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’” —Luke 4:1-4 (NLT)

How did Jesus prepare for this test?
How did maintain his integrity?
What lessons can we learn from Jesus being tempted?

What has been most helpful as it relates to maintaining your personal integrity?

Jesus had scripture on his heart, and I want to challenge you to do the same thing. Would you strive to commit to memory one verse?

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” —Proverbs 11:3 (ESV)