The other day I received a phone call from someone I hadn’t heard from in years. Because I was in a meeting at the time I wasn’t able to take the call, but he left a voicemail. The message was brief, and concluded with this statement, “I needed to talk with you, because you’re the only one I trust.” Wow! I haven’t had daily contact with this man for more than a decade and yet, in a time of need he called me. I was honored and humbled. I mentioned the message to Nancy and she said, “There’s no time limit on integrity. It doesn’t matter whether it’s been a couple of days or a number of years, right?”
Right. Integrity talks many years to establish. The word has a number of definitions, but in practical terms being a man or woman of integrity means that we are what we seem to be. We’re consistent. We’re trustable. The words integrity and integer are related. There’s a completeness in integrity that shows others we can be trusted when a time of need comes into their lives. While none of us is 100% whole, while those of us with the highest integrity still fall far short of perfection, the consistency in our lives establishes us as leaders to others. While it takes years to develop integrity, it is so easy to forfeit. We can lose our integrity in an instant through a momentary lapse in judgment. Then it takes years to rebuild, and for some the momentary lapse may never be forgotten. That’s why it is so important to make our decisions based on the long-term, rather than the moment.
We live in a world that seems not to care nearly as much about integrity as in bygone eras. The truth is integrity will always be valued, because when we are hurting, or suffering loss, or need wisdom, we turn to someone who has integrity if we know one. In those times we know they will listen, they will give wise advice and won’t just tell us what we want to hear. They will put our interests before their own.
The only person who had 100% integrity was Jesus Christ. It’s interesting that everyone sought Him out at one time or another to ask for help. Even Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus to ask about spiritual matters. Zacchaeus, a tax-collector, and man hated by most of the Jews, came to Jesus when he wanted to be restored as a man of integrity. A Roman centurion trusted Jesus to heal a servant, because the centurion understood Jesus’ was a man under authority and a man of great integrity.
I encourage you to build your integrity day-by-day. No one becomes a man or woman of integrity overnight. By speaking the truth in love day-by-day, by showing up when you say you will, by putting others’ needs before you own–in short by living in wholeness as Jesus would define it– we become people of integrity. The world is desperate for men and women of integrity whether in our homes, workplaces, churches or wherever, because the trials of life DO come, and in those moments, we need someone we know we can trust.
I was so honored to be that person for someone this week. I challenge and encourage you to become more and more that person with each passing day. When the phone rings, or the doorbell, or someone walks up to you at school or work and says, “I knew I could trust you. Would you be able to help me…..” it will be worth the sacrifices of time, effort, energy and prayer in your life to become a man or woman of integrity. I know it was worth it to me to be there when someone really needed a person to trust.
Here’s to leading better–today!