Integrity

June 9, 2020 (Tuesday)

A person of integrity is a decent person of good character — a good, honest, moral, upright and righteous person.

The opposite kind of person is wicked, evil, immoral, sinful and all around bad individual.

Most of us, I think, would like for our children to grow up to become people of integrity. In our better moments, we teach them to become good people. Of course, that is not always the case. Some people deliberately teach their children to despise others, break the law, reject education, stay away from church, never read the Bible, and certainly never to pray. Others would like to be better parents, I think, but the circumstances in which they have lived their lives have not been conducive to morality.

The word, “integrity,” appears in the Bible many times. We are encouraged by the Scriptures to live in integrity, to admire people who obviously have great integrity, and to make efforts to follow their examples.

During the congressional investigations of the Nixon presidency, a young man who had been serving in a government position gave testimony that he and others were “somewhat inured” by what they saw and heard in the halls of government. What does “inure” mean? Among other implications of the word, it means “toughen or harden by experience.” In other words they had become so accustomed to bad behavior by government officials that they hardly noticed it anymore, and found themselves following bad models without regret.

It’s what happens to people’s consciences as they participate in sinful activities. At first, they are disappointed in themselves but as they repeat the sin they get used to it, even to the point of sometimes bragging about activities they once thought were shameful. A person of integrity recognizes behavior that would be harmful and rejects it instinctively, knowing immediately that it is the wrong thing to do.

The Tuesday blogs are about presidents. Today’s blog is about Richard Nixon, who resigned his office because he knowingly approved, and perhaps instigated, criminal behavior by his followers. It is sad, because he had to overcome the disadvantages of poverty. He made something of himself and attained greatness as a president through self-denial and perseverance. The accompanying article about him lists his attainments which indeed were great, but his betrayal of his own integrity caused him to resign in disgrace. I believe, nonetheless, that future historians will emphasize his attainments and rank him high among the presidents, although they most certainly will always acknowledge his shortcomings.