I have good friends. I know we often hear about integrity and what it means and how important it is. At the same time we are also pressured by society to let our level of integrity slip. By slip I mean to degrade, a slow and almost unnoticeable downward spiral that we hardly notice until we are untrustworthy.
At some point we may start to keep the extra change given back to us from the cashier, or maybe we start going from our yes being our yes and our no being our no to where our yes is just another way to say if it is convenient to me I will do it. I feel this tug almost every day and sometimes from people I have acquaintances with, which often gives me pause about considering them friends and it should, but most often I would say it is from an overall pressure from my surroundings. How often do I have to watch TV or listen to a pop song (religious included) to become accustomed to seeking what is best for me?
But as I stated in first sentence I have good friends. I do not feel this pressure from them. As a group I think we live by a code of integrity. If you say yes and shake hands on it then you can rest assured that is as good as putting pen to paper. I am not advocating not doing legal paper work when needed but I am saying that a handshake among my friends is binding. Their solid guys and to be truthful we come upon this trust of each other because we answer to God.
While I may not always toe the line when it comes to be a “good” Christian I can assure you that I make the effort and so do those that I trust. And as far as my friends and concerned they would be the first to agree and encourage me in doing the right thing especially when it comes to integrity in my life and in my word. That makes the whole thing a lot easier.
Honestly, I say yes and no way less often than I previously did. Something about having to live up to your word that reduces the amount of words you use…
How does society pressure you about anything much less your integrity. Integrity is usually something “internal,” which we all have complete control of if we are aware of it. Today, most people are not aware of it, or just choose to ignore the implications of a lack of it, and instead act as if “no-one” will ever know what I’ve just done, therefore its, and I, am “OK.”
I’m curious – what exactly is a “good” Christian?
I feel the pressure of society daily in my decision making. Very little of my daily interactions are made in a vacuum. I agree integrity is an internal decision process and I also believe that we are influenced in that process by a multitude of external things such as friends and the common place acceptance of lowered morals.
I don’t think I have ever had “complete” control over anything but I do agree each action involving integrity is a decision we make whether we do it consciously or sub-consciously.
Also I agree that ignoring the implications of our actions has become a disease of our current life style.
And I have no idea what a good Christian is. Most often I use in a facetious manner to poke some fun. I have been present in many different churches and “good” can mean a lot of different things. If I had to describe a good Christian I would say it involves someone who is pursuing God and taking time to care for others. While I fail this description sometimes my heart is running full tilt after these two things.
I’m sorry to hear that you allow the pressure of society to influence you so……that must suck.
Complete control of things, including integrity, usually begins with practice, practice, and then more practice. It’s been proven that the more we practice something the more adept we become at that thing, which leads to an unconscious ability to simply “be” or simply “do.” Like learning to play an instrument – we struggle at first, yet once we “master” it we never forget.