You may lose all but this

I'm careful in making reference to this but the story of John Prescott, former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, is one that accentuates the need of keeping one’s integrity intact, against all odds. The man was reported to have lost his department in a cabinet reshuffle following the exposure of his untoward affair with his private secretary; an affair, according to another report, that would eventually cost Mr. Prescott the chance of becoming the Prime Minister when Tony Blair had to leave.

A man may lose everything but must jealously safeguard his integrity. When you lose your integrity, you’ll soon lose everything else; whereas if you lose everything but still have your integrity in place, it will make you regain all you have lost and still have more. When anyone descends so low as to drag his or her integrity in the mud (and in this regard, I will elevate two areas: as regards the opposite sex and money), such a man or woman will be rubbishing all he or she may have laboured for all his or her life (his/her past up to his/her present) and at the same time be doing an irreparable damage to his or her future. No wonder the Psalmist in Ps. 25: 21 earnestly prayed, ‘Let integrity and uprightness preserve me’.

Integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principles. And it is demanded in every facet of human endeavour. It shows up when you keep your promise, honouring your word. In trade, it is referred to as the soul of business. It is simply keeping your honour, having your ‘white garment’ unblemished. It is demanded in relationships as well as in positions of trust. In fact, integrity or the lack of it defines you.

To keep your integrity requires a conscious effort on your part. It requires you to ‘watch & pray’ because one can indeed be weighed down by the ‘flesh’ to such an extent that one would do what one would not believe of himself.
Watch: be vigilant, be transparent in all your dealings, run from every appearance of evil, confide in trusted friends, and be sincere, let reason prevail upon emotion.
Pray: “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”Romans 7: 17-19. “. . . For without me ye can do nothing.”John 15: 5. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”Phil.4: 13.

To hold the flesh responsible when you fall short of integrity, with respect to Romans 7 quoted above is quite untenable. Hence, the provisions of John 15 and Philippians 4 as quoted above.

And finally, when those moments of temptation come, always remind yourself of this: the temporary pleasure you will derive will be insignificant when compared with the irreparable damage that would follow (let reason overcome emotion).

You may lose everything but always ensure you safeguard, defend, maintain & uphold your integrity.