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What It Really Means to Be Pure in Heart · Voice of Rick warren

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  Speaker 1: Jesus says there are eight things that bring God's blessing
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  Speaker 1: in your life.
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  Speaker 2: I want your life to be blessed. I want my
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  Speaker 2: life to be blessed.
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  Speaker 1: And Jesus says these are the keys to being blessed
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  Speaker 1: by God. Now you know, our culture is absolutely obsessed
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  Speaker 1: with appearance, how you look. We're all about image. And
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  Speaker 1: if you're beautiful, then you're considered bright. And you're considered
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  Speaker 1: the best, which leaves most of us not in the
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  Speaker 1: brightest and best. Now, you could be sexy like me.
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  Speaker 1: But the Bible says God couldn't care less how you look.
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  Speaker 2: God is not into appearance.
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  Speaker 1: God couldn't care less about your achievements, your accomplishments, or
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  Speaker 1: your acquisitions. God isn't interested in how educated you.
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  Speaker 2: Are or how wealthy you are.
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  Speaker 1: God doesn't care about how popular or how famous you are.
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  Speaker 1: What God cares about is not your image, but he
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  Speaker 1: cares about your health and your heart and what's inside you,
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  Speaker 1: the real you. The Bible says in the book of
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  Speaker 1: 1 Samuel chapter 16, it says this in verse seven.
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  Speaker 1: Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks
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  Speaker 1: at the heart. And so today we come to the
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  Speaker 1: sixth of Jesus' eight beatitudes of ways to be blessed.
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  Speaker 1: And in Matthew chapter five, verse eight, talking about heart,
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  Speaker 1: it says this. God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
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  Speaker 1: for they will see God. Now, what in the world
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  Speaker 1: does that mean? God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
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  Speaker 1: for they will see God. First, what does it mean
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  Speaker 1: they will see God? This verse says the people whose
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  Speaker 1: hearts are pure They're the ones who get up close
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  Speaker 1: to God. They get to experience the presence of God.
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  Speaker 1: They get to feel the power of God. They get
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  Speaker 1: to know the purpose of God for their life. They
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  Speaker 1: get to live in the peace of God. They experience
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  Speaker 1: the pardon of God. These are the people who really
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  Speaker 1: have it. He says, God blesses those who are pure
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  Speaker 1: in heart. They're the ones that God says, this guy,
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  Speaker 1: he's my friend. This woman, she's my friend. So what
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  Speaker 1: does it mean to be pure in heart? That's not
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  Speaker 1: a term we use in today's language. We don't talk about, say, oh,
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  Speaker 1: she's got a pure heart. The word for pure in
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  Speaker 1: heart today is the word integrity.
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  Speaker 2: Integrity.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Bible uses the word integrity a lot, but
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  Speaker 1: it actually even uses the word blameless more.
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  Speaker 2: Now what does it mean to have integrity?
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  Speaker 1: Because if God says I bless those who have integrity,
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  Speaker 1: what does it mean to have integrity? Well it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean sinless, and it doesn't mean perfect, and it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean you don't make any mistakes. If you have to
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  Speaker 1: be sinless to have integrity, nobody's got integrity, because we
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  Speaker 1: all blow it. It doesn't mean perfect, because if you
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  Speaker 1: have to be perfect and never do anything wrong to
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  Speaker 1: have integrity, then none of us will ever have integrity.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean you never make any mistakes. If that
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  Speaker 1: were true, none of us would ever have integrity. So
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  Speaker 1: it's not talking about being perfect, being sinless. What does
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  Speaker 1: it mean to be pure in heart? Let me explain
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  Speaker 1: something to you. God is more interested in the direction
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  Speaker 1: of your heart than he is in the sins you commit.
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  Speaker 1: He's more interested in your attitude even than your actions.
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  Speaker 1: He's more interested in why you do what you.
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  Speaker 2: Do than what you do.
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  Speaker 1: In the Bible, there are many examples of people who
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  Speaker 1: did the right thing for the wrong motivation and God says,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't count.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't count at all.
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  Speaker 1: On the other hand, the Bible tells us about a
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  Speaker 1: number of leaders, different kings of Israel, who actually didn't
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  Speaker 1: always do the right thing and actually did some sin
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  Speaker 1: and yet God said they're okay.
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  Speaker 2: They're okay.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't remove all of the idols that were in
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  Speaker 1: the thing, but they were a good king. And so
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  Speaker 1: God is actually more interested in your heart, the direction
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  Speaker 1: of your heart, than he is in your actual sins and.
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  Speaker 2: What you do and don't.
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  Speaker 1: So what is integrity? The Bible says that Noah had integrity.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible says that Abraham had integrity, that David had integrity,
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  Speaker 1: that Moses had integrity, that Paul had integrity, yet none
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  Speaker 1: of these guys were perfect. I mean, let's just take
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  Speaker 1: David an example. God says about King David, there is
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  Speaker 1: a man who has a heart like mine. He's a
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  Speaker 1: man after my own heart. And you read that and
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  Speaker 1: you go, what? This is a guy who committed adultery
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  Speaker 1: and murdered the girl's husband. One time he pretended he
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  Speaker 1: was mentally insane to get out of a thing.
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  Speaker 2: He did all kinds of weird things. He was not
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  Speaker 2: perfect in any sense. And yet God says, that guy
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  Speaker 2: over there, Yeah, he's.
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  Speaker 1: Really messed up, but he's got a heart like mine.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to have a heart like God's. I
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  Speaker 1: want to have a heart like God. I want us
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  Speaker 1: to be people of integrity.
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  Speaker 2: So, excuse me. Wow, that felt good. And you didn't
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  Speaker 2: even have to say God bless you. Oh, you did?
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, God bless you too. You have integrity, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: All right, write down three words. Three words that define
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  Speaker 1: what it means to be a man of integrity, what
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  Speaker 1: it means to be a woman of integrity. The first
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  Speaker 1: meaning of integrity is wholeness, wholeness. It means your life
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  Speaker 1: isn't divided up into compartments. It's not divided into segments.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have your life all divided up in little,
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  Speaker 1: little categories. Your life is one large whole. We get
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  Speaker 1: the word integrity from the word integer or integer. You
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  Speaker 1: remember in math, an integer is a whole number. It's
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  Speaker 1: not a fraction. It's not a part of a number.
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  Speaker 1: It's not a decimal. It's a whole number. An integer
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  Speaker 1: means whole, and integrity means your life is a whole.
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  Speaker 1: We get the word integer. Integration from the word integr
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  Speaker 1: or integrity. Integration is the opposite of segregation. Segregation means
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  Speaker 1: you divide things up or divide people up or whatever
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  Speaker 1: into different categories. Integration means no, no, we're all part
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  Speaker 1: of the same family. We don't think the same, look
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  Speaker 1: the same, smell the same, act the same, don't have
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  Speaker 1: the same background, don't have the same skin color, but
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  Speaker 1: we are all in the same family. We are integrated,
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  Speaker 1: that's part of integrity. When you segregate your life, you
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  Speaker 1: don't have integrity.
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  Speaker 2: You see, it's like this.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people, they think of their life as
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  Speaker 1: like a pie. And the different things in their lives
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  Speaker 1: are the different parts of the pie. And I say,
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  Speaker 1: this slice of the pie is my career. That's my
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  Speaker 1: work life. And then this slice of the pie, this
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  Speaker 1: is church. This is my spiritual life. And then this
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  Speaker 1: is my family life.
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  Speaker 2: That's the slice.
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  Speaker 1: And then over here, this is my social life, my
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  Speaker 1: sports life. And then here is my sex life. That's
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  Speaker 1: a part of my my pie, and then over here
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  Speaker 1: is my secret life, my compulsions, my addictions, the things
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  Speaker 1: that nobody else knows about, my secret life. And then
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  Speaker 1: over here, this is my friendship life. If you segment
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  Speaker 1: your life like that, you lack integrity. Because it's the
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  Speaker 1: exact opposite of your life being whole. Integrity is not
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  Speaker 1: the parts of the pie, it's the filling in the
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  Speaker 1: whole pie. And it means you're exactly the same with
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  Speaker 1: everybody you talk to, no matter which part of your
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  Speaker 1: life you're dealing with. You don't change, you don't wear
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  Speaker 1: a mask, you don't pretend. And that's the second word
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  Speaker 1: I want you to write down. Integrity means authenticity. Authenticity.
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  Speaker 1: It means you keep it real. It means you're the
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  Speaker 1: real deal.
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  Speaker 2: You're not a fake. You're not a phony.
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  Speaker 1: You're not blowing people off with some scam. You're not
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  Speaker 1: faking it till you make it. You're not pretending. You're
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  Speaker 1: not copying anybody else. You're not trying to be somebody
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  Speaker 1: you're not. You are exactly who you appear to be.
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  Speaker 1: And if you have integrity, you act the same no
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  Speaker 1: matter where you are. That is, I act the same
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  Speaker 1: way with my grandkids as I do with you as
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  Speaker 1: I would with the Prime Minister of England. It's what
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  Speaker 1: you see is what you get. It's warts and all.
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  Speaker 1: It's not like I'm trying to be one way here
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  Speaker 1: and one way there and one way here. No, you're
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  Speaker 1: just who you are for good or for bad. Thousands
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  Speaker 1: of years ago, during the great Greek culture, when Plato
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  Speaker 1: and Socrates and Aristotle and Euripides and Aristophanes All these
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  Speaker 1: guys are writing these plays, these classic plays, Homer and
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  Speaker 1: the Iliad and the Odyssey, all of these things.
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  Speaker 2: Well, they used to have in Greek plays.
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  Speaker 1: Multiple roles by one actor. And what is, a guy
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  Speaker 1: would come from backstage out into the forum to play
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  Speaker 1: a part and he would hold up a mask and
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  Speaker 1: he'd wear a mask and he would say certain things
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  Speaker 1: and play that role. Then he'd walk backstage, get another mask,
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  Speaker 1: come back out and he'd play another role wearing another mask.
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  Speaker 1: Then he'd walk backstage, change it, get another mask, and
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  Speaker 1: come back out. And in Greek plays, one guy could
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  Speaker 1: have multiple roles and many masks. And he was called,
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  Speaker 1: in Greek, the hypokritos. We get the word hypocrite from it.
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to be a hypocrite? It means
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  Speaker 1: you're not the same with everybody. It means you talk
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  Speaker 1: one way with this group, and you talk another way
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  Speaker 1: with this group, and you use this kind of language
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  Speaker 1: over there, that kind of language over there, and you
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  Speaker 1: actually are wearing masks. That is the exact opposite of integrity.
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  Speaker 1: You lack authenticity. You're not the same with everybody. Integrity
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  Speaker 1: means you don't pretend to be something you're not.
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  Speaker 2: So it's wholeness, it's authenticity.
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  Speaker 1: The third thing that integrity is, write this down, is
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  Speaker 1: it means unmixed motivation. It means you do the right thing,
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  Speaker 1: but you do it for the right reason. Unmixed motivation,
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  Speaker 1: it means you're sincere. It means you're straightforward. It means
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  Speaker 1: you are pure in heart. Pure in heart means you
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  Speaker 1: don't have a mixed motive. In other words, you're doing
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  Speaker 1: it for the right reason. You can pray to talk
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  Speaker 1: to God or you can pray to impress other people.
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  Speaker 1: One has integrity and one doesn't. Integrity is what you
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  Speaker 1: are when nobody else is looking. Integrity is what you
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  Speaker 1: are in the dark. Integrity is what you really think, act,
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  Speaker 1: and do when nobody else will ever find out. That's
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  Speaker 1: the real you. Integrity, see we're more interested in image,
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  Speaker 1: but God's interested in integrity. We're interested in reputation. God
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  Speaker 1: is interested in character. Reputation is what everybody thinks you are.
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  Speaker 1: Integrity is what you really are. Reputation is what you
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  Speaker 1: are in public. Integrity is what you are when you're
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  Speaker 1: all alone with God, and it's just you and God.
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  Speaker 1: And God says God blesses those who have integrity. They
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  Speaker 1: get to be the friends of God. Now what does
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  Speaker 1: God say about this? Look at this verse up here
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  Speaker 1: on the screen, Proverbs chapter three. The Lord hates people
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  Speaker 1: with twisted hearts. What's a twisted heart? A perverse heart,
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  Speaker 1: a perverted heart, a deceitful heart, a demeaning heart, a fake,
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  Speaker 1: a phony heart.
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  Speaker 2: You're not the real you.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord hates people with twisted hearts, but he delights,
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  Speaker 1: he delights in those who have integrity.
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  Speaker 2: I want God to delight in you. So what we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna do this weekend is two things.
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  Speaker 1: First, I want us to look at some of the
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  Speaker 1: benefits of being a man of integrity or a woman
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  Speaker 1: of integrity. And Tom is gonna come and share in
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  Speaker 1: just a minute two or three benefits. There are many,
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  Speaker 1: many benefits in scripture. We just don't have time to
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  Speaker 1: cover them all so we'll only look at three of
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  Speaker 1: the promises that God says. If you live with integrity,
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  Speaker 1: then this is what's gonna happen in your life. And
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  Speaker 1: then I'm gonna come back and we're gonna look at
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  Speaker 1: a little checklist on how to get started and how
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  Speaker 1: even this week you could start working on becoming a
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  Speaker 1: woman of integrity or a man of integrity. Hi, everybody.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Pastor Rick Warren.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when I started Saddleback Church over 40 years
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  Speaker 1: ago with just a handful of people in our living room,
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  Speaker 1: I also began writing a simple devotional just for the
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  Speaker 1: people in our church to help them start each day
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  Speaker 1: with hope and with truth and with peace that comes
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  Speaker 1: from Jesus Christ. Well, you know, that little devotional grew
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  Speaker 1: and grew and grew, and today Daily Hope is one
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  Speaker 1: of the largest email devotions in the whole world. And
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  Speaker 1: each day, people all around the globe are reconnecting with
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  Speaker 1: God's promises and finding fresh strength in his word to
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  Speaker 1: face whatever comes their way. Now, here's the best part.
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  Speaker 1: It's absolutely free, okay? We don't have any charge for this.
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  Speaker 1: Every day, you'll get a quick devotional read and a
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  Speaker 1: podcast that you can listen to.
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  Speaker 2: On the go.
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  Speaker 1: Now, you know, in a world that's more distracted and
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  Speaker 1: uncertain than ever, I want to help you start your
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  Speaker 1: day centered on what never changes. And what never changes
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  Speaker 1: is God's love, His unconditional love for you and His
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  Speaker 1: promises to you. You know, if you'll just spend just
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes a day in the morning with the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: it can bring so much more clarity, more purpose, more
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  Speaker 1: peace to everything that happens in your day. Particularly, psychologists
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  Speaker 1: have said that what you do with the first five
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  Speaker 1: minutes of your day pretty much sets the tone. So, friend,
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  Speaker 1: you were never meant to go through life alone. I
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  Speaker 1: want to personally invite you to just sign up for
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: the Daily Hope devotional.
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  Speaker 2: Do it today.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's going to bring fresh encouragement to your
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  Speaker 1: walk in God. God bless you.
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  Speaker 2: Would you like to sign up for Pastor Rick's email devotional?
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  Speaker 2: You can just scan the QR code or go to dailyhopetv.com.
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  Speaker 1: So let's have Tom come and talk about some of
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  Speaker 1: the blessings that happen when I get this quality in
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  Speaker 1: my life.
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  Speaker 3: One of the great blessings, one of the great blessings
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  Speaker 3: that comes when we have integrity is the blessing of
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  Speaker 3: personal confidence. You just live with a different kind of
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  Speaker 3: confidence because you're not trying to be a phony all
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  Speaker 3: the time. You're not trying to make sure that you're
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  Speaker 3: putting the right front with the right person all the time,
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  Speaker 3: so you're able to have a different kind of confidence.
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  Speaker 3: When you have integrity, you become the kind of person
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  Speaker 3: that other people like to be around, because you know
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  Speaker 3: who you are, you know where you're going. You're even
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  Speaker 3: able to be upfront about your faults, you don't have
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  Speaker 3: to be a phony. And there's just something about that
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  Speaker 3: kind of confidence that not only is it attractive in others,
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  Speaker 3: it's relaxing, it's.
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  Speaker 2: Strengthening in our own lives.
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  Speaker 3: I've always loved this picture, Proverbs 10, nine, of the
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  Speaker 3: kind of confidence that integrity brings It says here, people
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  Speaker 3: with integrity have a firm footing, but those who follow
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  Speaker 3: crooked paths will slip and fall. So when I have... Integrity,
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  Speaker 3: I'm standing on solid ground. But when I don't have integrity,
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  Speaker 3: it's like back east in a snowstorm. The path is
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  Speaker 3: all icy. And you're trying with all your might not
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  Speaker 3: to fall. And every bit of energy is making sure
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  Speaker 3: you don't slip and fall. That's what it feels like
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  Speaker 3: not to have integrity. You're putting too much energy into
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  Speaker 3: making sure that you put the right fault front. When
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  Speaker 3: you could just be honest, just be yourself. I'll never
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  Speaker 3: forget talking to a business guy years ago. And I
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  Speaker 3: asked him, What's the number one thing that changed in
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  Speaker 3: your life now that you've become a follower of Jesus?
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  Speaker 3: He just started following Jesus a few months before. And
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  Speaker 3: he said, the number one thing that's changed, he said
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  Speaker 3: it right away, is the way I answer the phone.
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  Speaker 3: He said, I used to answer the phone and I
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  Speaker 3: would tell a different lie to everybody in my business.
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  Speaker 3: And I'd have to look at their name and realize,
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  Speaker 3: what lie did I tell this guy? And before I
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  Speaker 3: answered the phone, know what lie in my mind. But
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  Speaker 3: now I can just answer, because I tell them the truth,
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  Speaker 3: I can just answer and not even have to look
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  Speaker 3: at the names. That's what integrity does for you. It
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  Speaker 3: gives you this different kind of confidence. The Bible says
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  Speaker 3: in Proverbs 11 3, let's read this one together. The
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  Speaker 3: integrity of the honest keeps them on track. So integrity
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  Speaker 3: shows you the right way to go.
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  Speaker 2: It also shows you what to do next.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes you start to wander through life. You're not sure
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  Speaker 3: what to do next. Maybe in a transition. Maybe when
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  Speaker 3: your kids is going off to college. Maybe you just
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  Speaker 3: changed jobs. What do you do next? Well the The
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  Speaker 3: Bible says that when you have purity of heart, when
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  Speaker 3: you have integrity, you see God better. When you see God,
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  Speaker 3: you know what to do next because God has a purpose.
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  Speaker 3: God has a plan for your life. Integrity helps you
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  Speaker 3: to see God's plan and purpose for your life better.
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  Speaker 3: That's one of the things that gives you a greater
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  Speaker 3: confidence to live with. One of the great blessings of integrity.
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  Speaker 3: A second blessing of integrity is a lasting legacy. You
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  Speaker 3: get this lasting legacy. In fact, if you think about
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  Speaker 3: your life, your greatest legacy is is in your integrity
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  Speaker 3: because it's a legacy that will last from generation to
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  Speaker 3: generation to generation.
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  Speaker 2: Everything else that we do, it gets lost.
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  Speaker 3: The money that you earn in the end, it's gonna
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  Speaker 3: get divided amongst your kids if you have any money
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  Speaker 3: left and it's gonna get spent. The work that you do,
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  Speaker 3: it's gonna be given to somebody else and then you're
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  Speaker 3: gonna be forgotten. All the trophies that you've earned, it's
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  Speaker 3: gonna be thrown in the trash someday and taken to
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  Speaker 3: the dump.
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  Speaker 2: Isn't this encouraging about our lives?
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  Speaker 3: But, The integrity that you have, the character that you have,
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: it's going to be translated into the lives of the
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: people that are around you and into the lives of
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: the next generation and the next generation. It is a
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: lasting legacy. Next verse in your outline, Proverbs 27, is
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: especially encouraging for parents. It says, a righteous person lives
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: on the basis of his integrity. Blessed are his children
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: after he is gone. It's the blessing, moms and dads,
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: of the character that you've given. I know there's no
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: such thing as a perfect parent here. But you've made
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: some good choices. And in those good choices, you're passing
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: them on. And you might think, not me. I haven't
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: made any good choices. I mean, I messed up on
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: this one. I did not show integrity in my relationships.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: And because of that, I guess I don't get this blessing. Well,
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: I just want to say to you, the story's not over.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: You can still have integrity.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: In your life.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: And sometimes the greatest integrity you show is in a
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: time when it seems like there's no blessings. A lot
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: of us know the story of Job. If you're brand
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: new in church, you might even know that story. The
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: guy who lost it all. And he decided to have
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: integrity even though he.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: lost it all. He didn't know why he lost.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: It, but he decided, I'm going to have integrity through this.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: In the next verse in your outline, Job 8, 5
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: to 7, one of his friends gives him this advice.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: If you pray to God and seek the favor of
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: the Almighty, if you're pure and you live with complete integrity,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: God will rise up and restore your happy home. And
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: though you started with little, you will end with much.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: And that is exactly what happened. Job decided to have
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: integrity even through a difficult time. And because of that,
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: in the end, he was doubly blessed. He was blessed
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: even more in the end. Some of you, you've gone
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: through a tough time, maybe even a loss of integrity.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: And because of a loss, you start to think, what
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: does it matter? I already messed up. So I may
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: as well just keep messing up because what does it
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: matter now? But I just want to say to you,
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: the story is not over. And the truth of the
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: matter is, your greatest integrity might be what you do
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: after a loss of integrity. You can still respond with
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: integrity then.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: And somebody's watching. And you know what?
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: They're going to have a loss of integrity someday in
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: their life. And you can show them even now what
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: to do. You can still leave a lasting legacy. It's
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: never too late. The story's not over. It's one of
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: the blessings of integrity. A lasting legacy. A personal confidence.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: And then there's this third blessing amidst all the others
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: that we're looking at today.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: And that is the.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: Blessing of rewards in eternity. Now this, in one sense,
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: is the greatest blessing because it's the one that lasts forever,
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: the rewards that we get in eternity. Look what the
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Bible says about this in Matthew 25, 21. God will
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: say one day, well done. You are a good and
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: trusted servant because you were faithful with small things. I
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: will now put you in charge of much greater things.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: So come and share your master's happiness. Now, would you
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: circle for me two words in that verse? Would you
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: circle the words small things? That's where the rewards are.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: We think that the rewards, the real integrity is in
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: the big moments of life. It's easy to have integrity
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: easier because you know everybody's watching. You can build yourself
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: up for it. But it's in the small moments that
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: you show real integrity. As Rick said earlier, integrity is
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: who you are when no one's watching, no one's noticing.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: So what kind of integrity do I have in the
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: small things of life? Now, when it comes to integrity
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: in the small things, when no one else is watching,
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: we can all list the areas we've failed there. No
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: one would want all of the small choices we made
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: in our lives this last week even put up on
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: the screen because there'd be some things we did not
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: want people to see. It's easy to make a list
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: of your sins and failures in the small things. But
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: let's put those, let's take those and put them on
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: the forgiven in Christ side of the ledger. Because he
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: forgives those things. But I want to remind you, and
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: this verse reminds us, there is another side of the ledger.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: And that is when you choose to have faith, when
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: you choose to have integrity in the small things, that
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: is on the rewarded side of the ledger. Every small
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: thing you do, every small word of encouragement, you give
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: this next week, it is rewarded eternally. Every small kindness,
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: act of kindness that you give towards someone else, rewarded
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: in eternity. Every time you reject a temptation, rewarded in eternity.
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: Every time you pray a small prayer of faith, just
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: a quick prayer of faith in a moment, that.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Is rewarded in eternity. That's the power of integrity.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: And when you make these small choices, when you make
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: these small choices for eternity, it changes not only your
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: life now, but also your life forever.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Now, if you're talking about what Tom just talked about,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I'm interested in these benefits.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: I'm interested in personal stability. I'm interested in leaving a legacy.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: And I'm interested in rewards for eternity. And God says
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: all three of these are wrapped up in having integrity.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: So how do you get it? How do you get integrity?
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: What does it even look like? Well in Psalm chapter 15,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the 15th Psalm, David gives us eight characteristics of what
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: it means to walk or live with integrity. Let me
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: read it to you. Psalm 15, one to five. Lord,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: who may stand in your sanctuary? and who may live
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: on your holy mountain.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: And what's he talking about here? This is a metaphor.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: He's saying, God, who gets to be close to you?
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: That's what he's saying. Who gets to be your friend?
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: All that stuff I just was talking about earlier. Who
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: gets to live in your presence? Who gets to experience
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: your power? Who gets to understand your peace? Who gets
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: to live your purpose?
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: God, who gets to be your friend? That's what he's saying.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Who may stay in your sanctuary and live on your
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: holy mountain? Here's the answer, the one who walks with integrity.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Circle that, walks with integrity. And then he gives us
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: eight characteristics of a man who has integrity or a
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: woman who has integrity. Here's what they are. Number one,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: he speaks the truth from his heart. You don't lie
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: when you have integrity. He refuses to slander others with
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: his tongue, whoa. Anytime you put down anybody else, you've
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: just lost integrity. Anytime you slander anybody else for their politics.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Or their religion or their lifestyle or any other.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Difference, cultural difference, whatever, he says, you've just lost your integrity.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: He refuses to slander others with his tongue. He won't
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: listen to gossip. Oh, now we're meddling. He will not
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: cast a slur on his fellow man. Instead, he honors
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: those who fear the Lord. And he keeps his promises
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: even when it hurts. He lends his money freely without
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: charging interest. In other words, he's very, very generous. That's
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a mark of integrity. And he cannot be bribed by money.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Whoever does these things, these things will never be shaken.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: You wanna have security in your life? You wanna get
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: rid of all the insecurity in your life? Get integrity
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: in your life. You wanna have stability in your life?
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Get integrity in your life. You wanna have the confidence
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Tom was talking about? Then you gotta get integrity in
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: your life. When you lack integrity, you go through life insecure.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: The Bible says the man of integrity walks securely. And
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: the whole reason you don't have security, the whole reason
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: you feel insecure so much of the time is because
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you lack integrity.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Wholeness, authenticity, and a unmixed motivation.