Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Monday July 20, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey good morning, friends. It is Monday, July twentieth. I am Greg Miller, the host of Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. ⁓ we're gonna get your week off. ⁓ we're gonna start off this week with with going back to the the very, very old testament, going back to the book of Genesis, and ⁓ and a story I think most of us are familiar with. And the the theme of of the story is is ⁓ it's the story of Joseph Joseph with Potiphar's wife, but the the theme is more about ⁓ integrity and and and character and who are we ⁓ simply on our own when when nobody's around and when nobody's watching. Not not who are we when we're putting on our best ⁓ on Sunday mornings for the church crowd, ⁓ not when we're performing at work and trying to impress those ⁓ pe around us. Certainly not when we're we're posting on social media trying to trying to create a certain image. I'm not talking about who people think you are. And we've had some some episodes already on the on the difference between Between image and character, but who are you when it's just you and God? Because that's that's ultimately what character truly is, and that's that's where real character is revealed. And you know, obviously we we can all look around us and realize we we spend we we live in a world that will spend billions and billions of dollars on on building images. But as we've talked about on here repeatedly, God is God is not concerned with your image, God is simply interested in in your character. An image can be fake, an image can be manufactured. Characters real, characters genuine. An image is something that may be able to impress people. Character is what impresses and pleases God. So the story today, I said it's it's the story from the book of Genesis about Joseph and Potiphar's wife. It's Genesis chapter 39, verses 6 through 12. So he left in Joseph's care everything he had. Joseph in charge he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was a well built and handsome man, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, Come to bed with me. But he refused. With me in charge, he told her, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went to the house to attend his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, Come to bed with me. But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. Well it's a it's a very familiar so story here. Most of us are are are aware of the story and the and the account of of Joseph and and his interaction with Potiphar's wife, but let's take a look today and let's look at this beyond just the the temptation and the and the instance itself. Let's take let's take a look at the man. Let's take a look at Joseph, because you know, long before Joseph became a ruler in Egypt, he he lived a struggled life, but that life helped him become a man of integrity. The two things, the struggle life and the becoming a man of integrity, are are not unrelated at all. And that's something I think we can all build off of. You know, I think one of the one of the biggest mistakes we make sometimes is is believing that that character is is formed in big moments. Character's often revealed in big moments, but it isn't formed in big moments. The big moments will reveal what's already been formed in the smaller moments that have led up to it. When approached by Potiphar's wife, Joseph didn't suddenly become a man of integrity in that moment of temptation. He was already a man of integrity. That decision in him had already been built day after day, choice after choice, long before the test ever presented itself. We we often pray and and ask God, hey God, you use me in great ways, but but are we really allowing him to shape us in ordinary ways so that we're capable of handling the great things? You know, God usually prepares people in in private small things well before he entrusts them with a a big influence or some sort of public platform. Think about think about Joseph's life, and this is one of the the more paramount stories in the Bible. his his own family, his his brothers betrayed him and and threw him into a pit and and then they sold him into slavery. He he was ripped away from his father, ripped away from his family, dragged into a foreign land where where he didn't know anybody, didn't have any connections. Everything that happened to Joseph was and would have certainly felt completely unfair. If if anybody could have justified, say, hey, after after everything I've been through, I deserve this It would have been Joseph. And I think this is something we can all relate to. We look around and we see you see the world around us. And sometimes we go, hey, you know, I'm not doing so bad. Maybe, maybe I deserve something, even if it's not truly something I would deserve. You know, it's I've had a hard week. I've been overlooked. You know, they hurt me first, so I deserve to hurt them back. I'm I'm under pressure, so I deserve an outlet. You know, we we become experts in in our current society of Of turning pain and grievances into some sort of permission structure to get away with doing something we we know we shouldn't be doing. And this is what the story's really about. Joseph refused to let his suffering become an excuse to sin. Your wounds may be able to explain your temptations, but they can never excuse your actual choices. And let's listen closely to Joseph's words that he chooses here. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? Notice what he's not saying here. He's never saying I might get caught. He never says I might lose my position. He never says this will ruin my reputation or ruin my image. His first and foremost thought was about disappointing God. And I think this is something that this is this tells us something very profound. Joseph's morality exercise here was not built on the consequences of his actions. His morality was built on his relationship with God. He wasn't asking, what can I get away with? He was asking, how could I wound the God who has never stopped being faithful to me? I think that's that's the difference between our modern society and the kind of the legalism we we all tend to see and true love. Legalism will say, you know, where's the line? What can I get away with? Love just asks, you know, how how can I honor the one that gave everything for me? The the greatest battles in our lives are are rarely fault in public. They're they're fault in secret, they're fault in the quiet moments, they're fault in our thoughts and in our in our motives and in the things that drive us. They're fault in the in the quiet decisions we wrestle with, but that nobody else ever sees. Every day we're we're presented with opportunities to to compromise our integrity, compromise our morals. And and maybe it's not like Joseph in this case, maybe it's not about you know, ⁓ adultery or an affair. Maybe it's maybe it's dishonesty on a on an expense report, or maybe it's, you know, a certain element of of bitterness you've just refused to release for something that's happened in the past. Maybe it's, you know, maybe it's you engaging in some some gossip that you don't need to be engaging in and trying to portray it as some element of concern. Maybe it's maybe it's cutting corners or taking shortcuts or just trying to get away with things because you look around and see that everybody else does it. Maybe it's the things you choose to consume when you're by yourself and that you know you wouldn't consume if other people were around. Could be social media consumption, could be alcohol consumption, could be anything. There there are things you may partake in when you're alone because you feel like you can get away with it. you know, compromise it rarely begins with with major catastrophic decisions. It's it's usually one small decision that in the moment seems rarely insignificant, and and then it it just becomes a habit. And then habits become character, and and character ultimately determines the the path you're on and and the direction you're headed. If we take a second to to observe something that that we're all clearly aware of, and you know, I don't know that we have ever seen a a time in society where where it was easier to put out a good image and to to look righteous without actually being or becoming righteous. And and think about it like. I mean, we also, and again, I I do understand the hypocrisy of of me doing this every day, but people get online all the time on on any of the social media platforms, and you can post a Bible verse while refusing to adhere to exactly the message that it's it's saying. But we can we can argue passionately about our our moral stances, but yet we can neglect the the interpersonal relationships in our in our own lives that that need those discussions. You know, we we're so quick to condemn the sins of of strangers online, but man, we are all so very adequate excusing the sins that that we allow to just settle into our own hearts and we justify. But we convince everyone around us that that we're spiritually healthy, but slowly and and somewhere inside we all know we're we're drifting away from the guy that we claim to love. And I think that's one of the the greatest dangers facing the modern church is. We've we've become experts at managing appearances. But make no mistake, God has never once confused appearances with pure holiness. When when Jesus confronted the Pharisees, his his strongest rebukes weren't aimed at the people who lacked religious knowledge. They were aimed at the people who were fake. They were aimed at the people who who looked righteous on the outside, but knowing their hearts on the inside were far from God. The temptation That temptation doesn't disappear and didn't disappear 2,000 years ago. It's still here. And and it's even easier now to to portray that false image. It's it's just we we just wear different clothes. It's just a modern sense. Instead of standing on street corners to to impress people, now we just, you know, we curate what the world sees by our social media profiles. And instead of trying to ⁓ earn applause from the crowd in the in the local marketplace, now we're now we're chasing affirmation from people online that we'll never meet. Well look, hear me out here and and listen very clearly. This this isn't a message against social media. This this is a message against pretending. It's it's a message because image and integrity are just not the same thing. Image is concerned simply with what will people think? And integrity is asking, what does God already know? And believe me, he does already know. Image can fool your neighbors, but integrity can never fool God. Image can last until someone uncovers the truth, but integrity will last permanently because it is built on the truth. And that's why that's why the story of Joseph is is so powerful here. It's there wasn't a crowd, there was nobody around, that there wasn't applause, there wasn't a camera, he he wasn't gonna get caught. It was simply a young man standing in a room with an opportunity to to compromise himself, his morals, and his integrity, and and to compromise his ⁓ the relationship he had with the God that that he simply loved too much to betray. Church, that's I mean, that's that's integrity. That's that's the highest level of integrity. And it and I wonder if if that's exactly where where revival begins. Not with louder opinions, not with sharper political arguments, not with bigger political platforms, but just with men and women whose private lives are every bit as surrendered to Christ as their public lives appear to be. Just be real and genuine in what we preach. Revival has has never intended to be started with better public relations. It starts with private repentance. It starts individuals inside their own hearts. Long before God changes an entire nation, he changes one person's heart. Long before he can transform an entire culture, he changes one person. And and maybe that's exactly where he's inviting each of us to begin today. Is just focus on changing yourself, changing who you are, changing your cultural ⁓ like importance, change your integrity, and just simply do the things you know God wants you to do. The The cost of integrity i and is the part of the story that that we don't like. And that's, you know, doing the right thing in this case, you know, if if you go into read this story and you know that even though Joseph did the right thing, it it didn't make his life any easier. It in fact it it made it harder. He he turned away and literally in this case, he ran away from the temptation and he still ended up in prison. And that's that's a truth that that we don't talk about that part of the story enough. You know, obedience. And this is something we all wrestle with. Obedience doesn't always produce the immediate outcome you're looking for. And immediate obedience certainly doesn't always lead to instant comfort. Sometimes obedience to God will cost you. Sometimes telling the truth will cost you. Sometimes refusing to compromise will cost you. And sometimes following Christ faithfully the way we're called to means standing alone. ⁓ it is often a lonely place to be when you're when you're standing on what's right. But here's the promise, and that's God will never waste faithful obedience. The prison in this case was certainly not the end of Joseph's story. It was just part of God's preparation for what was to come. The same God who was with Joseph in Potiphar's house was the same God that was with him in prison as well. His circumstances changed, but the the presence of the Lord that he loved did not change at all. The beauty of Joseph's story isn't in this case that Joseph was flawless. It was It was that God was faithful. Joseph points forward, points us forward to Christ. He, you know, Jose Jesus, much like Joseph, also faced temptation. Jesus also suffered even though he had done nothing wrong. Jesus was also falsely accused. But where Joseph reflected integrity, Christ embodied perfect holiness. And because of him, luckily for us, when we fail, and we all do, we're not left without hope. The gospel isn't for people who have never compromised. It's for people who are willing to simply confess, repent, receive grace, and be transformed to move forward. So let me let me leave you with these three questions. If if nobody ever found out, would you still choose obedience? What private habit is quietly shaping the person you're becoming? Something nobody else knows about, but you know is having a long-term impact on your spiritual well-being. And then thirdly, if if someone examined the hidden parts of your life, if you gave someone God access to your life, would they discover the same person that they think that you are? Like if they really saw the things that they don't currently know about you and see about you, and you opened that world to them, would they still feel the same way about you? Those are those are hard questions, but they're they're holy questions. They're biblical questions because character isn't built when the spotlight is on. Character is built when the only audience is God, when it's just you and Him. So, you know, all throughout the week, all throughout the day, you're you're gonna have opportunities present themselves to you that absolutely nobody else will ever know about. You'll you'll have moments where where compromise will seem easy. You'll have moments where absolutely nobody would blame you for doing certain things. Things. You'll have moments where the shortcuts will look very attractive. And when those moments come, don't ask, hey, can I get away with this? Ask the Joseph question. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? The greatest victories in your life likely won't ever make the news, they won't ever make headlines. And most of those victories will just be between you and God. And it's entirely possible that nobody will ever know about them. Nobody will ever applaud them. Applaud them and nobody may ever know they happen. But heaven does and God does. And those unseen moments of faithfulness, trust me, will become the foundation of a life that God can trust and empower you to make bigger choices and bigger impacts down the road. So this week, don't just worry about your image. Don't just protect your reputation. Get with God and guard and build your character. Character is who you are when the lights are off and the door is closed. May we all become men and women whose private lives honor the same God that we publicly profess. As always, guys, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.