To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 2:10 “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.”

Integrity: one dictionary defines it as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of being whole and undivided.”  This character trait is something almost anyone can appreciate.  We value integrity in others. Hopefully, we want to exemplify integrity in our own lives.  The verse above from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians shows one of the fundamental keys to this quality.  At first glance it looks like Paul is bragging.  He’s telling these people that he has acted in a holy, righteous, and blameless manner in his interactions with them.  But it’s what precedes this claim that is striking. He’s not just claiming these things.  He recognizes that they were witnesses of these things.  They could see what he was as he interacted with them.  And when they couldn’t see him, God could.  Paul here confesses that he is fully aware that his life is under examination at every moment.  It wasn’t enough for him to act in a righteous manner just when people could see him. He knew that when they didn’t see him, the all-seeing God did.  To live a life of integrity toward the Thessalonians, he couldn’t act one way around them and another way when he wasn’t around them, for whether they saw him or not, God surely did. 

What a lesson there is in this for each and every one of us. It’s so easy to go to a place of worship somewhere and act loving and kind towards people for an hour or two. It’s so easy to smile at the pastor and act interested in those sitting next to us as we greet them and say nice things. But what about five minutes after the service is over when we’re driving away in our car?  Is our attitude towards those we’ve just been with and our words about them just as kind?  As God alone is our witness (and perhaps our immediate family) is our witness towards them consistent?  Is there integrity?  Are we critical of the pastor?  Do we speak harshly about those in our church? Or is there consistency in our behavior towards others whether their eyes are on us or not?  Further, is our behavior when we are around other people whatever the setting in which we find ourselves consistent with what our behavior is when we aren’t around them?  Are our words, our attitudes, and our actions one and the same?  Or are we hiding things from others, things we’d be ashamed of them knowing about?  Are there words and behaviors we use around one set of people or when we are alone that we’d never in a thousand years use around other people.  If so, it may be that we don’t really believe that there is One Who sees everything always.

In the words of Psalm 139, God is One Who sees “when I sit down and when I rise up.”  He’s One Who can “discern my thoughts from afar.” He’s One Who can and does “search out my path and my lying down and (is) acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue. . . (the) Lord, know(s) it altogether.”  Can we say with the apostle Paul, “You are my witnesses and so is God of who I am?”  Can we say “I’m not a hypocrite. I’m not one thing when I’m around you and a whole other person when I’m not?” 

May God help us to be people of integrity, and value this character quality in our own lives as much as we value it in the lives of others.