Latest / Men's Morning Devotional / A Man of Integrity

Transcript

A Man of Integrity · Men's Morning Devotional

• 0:01
  Good morning, gentlemen. It's Steve Alessi, and it's Monday morning,
• 0:09
  time for another Man Up Moment. Here's my question: why is it so easy for us to be so chameleon-like as men when we're just hanging out? With the buds, we act like a kid. When at home, we're serious and needing our space. When at work, dropping F-bombs.
• 0:25
  time for another Man Up Moment. Here's my question: But when we're with our church guys, We're preaching the Bible.
• 0:29
  time for another Man Up Moment. Here's my question: We're making our way through the book of wisdom in Proverbs, and today
• 0:33
  we're reading Proverbs 11: 3, which says, the integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
• 0:45
  we're reading Proverbs 11: Now guys, if we're talking about integrity, it simply
• 0:49
  means this: being the same man everywhere. The man you are at church is the man you are at home.
• 0:57
  means this: The man you are when the boss is watching is the man you are when nobody is watching. The man you portray yourself to be publicly is the same man you are privately, because ultimately integrity is who you are when nobody is looking. There's an old story about a man who walked into a store. He made a purchase, And then left. Later, when he counted his change, he realized the cashier had accidentally given him too much money back. Nobody knew. The cashier surely didn't know. There were no cameras following him. And he could have easily put the money in his pocket and said, well, that was their mistake.
• 1:39
  means this: Instead, he turned around, drove back to the store, walked inside, and returned the money. The cashier, of course, was surprised and said, you're such an honest man.
• 1:51
  means this: And he was. But here's the point. He didn't return the money because the cashier was watching. He returned it because he was watching himself. His integrity guided him.
• 2:03
  means this: And that's exactly what Proverbs is talking about. Every day you and I are making decisions. Some of them are big and But most of them are small. And there won't always be somebody standing beside you telling you what to do. That's when integrity becomes your compass. Integrity says, I already know what kind of man I'm going to be today. So, when you're filling out the expense report, you don't have to wonder.
• 2:31
  means this: When you're paying your taxes, you don't have to wonder. When you're alone with your phone, you don't have to second-guess or question.
• 2:38
  means this: When you're talking to another woman and your wife isn't around, you don't have to wonder. See, in all of these environments, your integrity guides you. You already decided who you are way before you stepped into it. But notice now the
• 2:53
  second half of the verse: the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. Now, duplicity means you're living 2 different lives. So, you have one version of you over here, But then there's another version of you over there.
• 3:09
  second half of the verse: And men, trying to maintain 2 versions of yourself will eventually wear you out. And eventually one of them will expose the other because you have to remember what you told the person, or you have to hide something from that person, or you have to delete this, cover that, explain this, defend that.
• 3:28
  second half of the verse: That's not freedom. Integrity, it gives you freedom. Because you don't have to remember which version of yourself you're supposed to be. There's only one you.
• 3:40
  second half of the verse: And here is why this matters so much to us as men.
• 3:45
  second half of the verse: Trust will take years to build, but only moments to destroy. So gentlemen, here's your man-up challenge today. Ask yourself one question. Is there any area of my life where I'm being 2 different men? Then, if you are, identify one area where your integrity needs to tighten up and then deal with it today. Gentlemen, man up and be the same man everywhere. Let's pray.
• 4:19
  second half of the verse: Father, help us to be men of integrity. Give us the courage to do what is right, even when nobody is watching, and even when doing right costs us something. Guard us from living two lives. Let our private character match our public reputation. Help us to be men whose wives can trust us, whose children can follow us, whose friends can depend on us, and whose word means something.
• 4:47
  second half of the verse: Lord, let our integrity guide us today and make us men you can trust. In Jesus' name, amen.