Have you ever considered how valuable personal integrity really is? I'm not talking about worrying about how your conduct appears to others. I'm talking about that inward character that manifests itself outwardly in how you live your life. Can you really put a price tag on it?
Proverbs 10:9, "He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known."
Proverbs 19:1, "Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool."
Integrity is defined as an adherence to moral and ethical principles, a personal authenticity. Integrity is doing what's right when no one else is looking. Bobby Jones was considered the greatest golfer in the world during his time in the 1920's. He held the record in winning major golf championships, until Jack Nicklaus broke his record in the 70's. One day during the U.S. Open Championship, Jones drove his ball into the woods, and accidentally nudged it. Although no one saw him move the ball, he penalized himself one stroke, which caused him to lose the game by that margin. When praised for his integrity, he said, "You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank." Think about that. No one saw it, yet he knew he had moved his ball. No cover up, no ignoring the rules. He did the right thing, even though no one was looking. That's integrity.
Let's look at the verses again. First, the person of integrity walks securely, he never has to look over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching. He never has to rehearse a story in his mind or to other accomplices to keep it straight. Dishonesty and moral failure will come out, eventually. Mark Twain, said it best, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." You will walk securely. Secondly, the verse in Proverbs 19 puts a value statement with integrity. It is better to be poor, and be a man of integrity, than to have great wealth and be a liar and a fool. Victor Kiam, the businessman who loved the Remington electric razor so much that he bought the company, once said, "As an entrepreneur, a reputation for integrity is your most valuable commodity. If you try to put something over on someone, it will come back to haunt you."
If ethics can be taught, as I concluded in last week's blog, even though some may differ with that conclusion, can integrity also be taught? Aren't they really one and the same? If you are grounded in sound moral and ethical principles through your developmental years with sound teaching in both word and by example, will that not help to shape your character to be a person of integrity? It takes years to become known as a true person of integrity. You live life to a higher standard. You seek not to please men. You speak the truth. You do what's right, decent and moral.
BAM! All of that reputation, all your integrity, all your moral character can evaporate in an instant. That which took years to develop, can be gone in an instant. Moral failure, compromised ethics, dishonesty can take all of the integrity that you developed over the years and flush your reputation down the toilet. It can be gone in an instant. Trust me. I know what I'm talking about here. It is painful. It is devastating to you and the people you love and respect. It can destroy you.
Do you fear that you may have lost your integrity? Maybe you feel your credibility has been damaged. Can integrity be regained? Can you ever be trusted again? Can a tarnished character ever be made whole again?
I'm convinced, and I believe it can. If I didn't, I wouldn't be writing this blog. I struggle at times with what makes me think I'm qualified to write this blog on Business Ethics. Me, of all people, who's integrity was lost in an instant. What makes me think anyone would listen. Why subject myself to even closer scrutiny and professional ridicule by those who know or learn about "my story". Why listen to me? I honestly have struggled with this, but I started looking at the men in the Bible. Men, whom God used to do His work on earth. With the exception of Jesus, who was the Perfect Man, all of the characters in the Bible had flaws. Some of them major ones too. Think about the Old Testament. There was Moses, living high in Egypt, yet he killed an Egyptian and had to flee Pharaoh. His reputation was ruined, yet God used him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Then, I think of David, King of Israel, whose immoral deeds are clearly spelled out in the Bible, yet he was known as the "man after God's own heart". In the New Testament, I see Peter, who cursed and denied that he ever knew Jesus, when accused, while Jesus was on trial, yet Peter later preached on Pentecost and helped spread the Gospel to distant lands. Then there is Paul, the human writer of 13 books of the New Testament. He persecuted the early Christians severely, yet God used him. Why? These men's characters were flawed. What I learned was that when failures come, and we set out to make things right again, that God will take failures and make them winners. It shows what God can do with someone's life. It is a testimony to the working of God in lives. He can take the useless and make them useful again.
Let me warn you though. That which can be lost in an instant, may take years, and in some cases, the rest of your life to restore. Once integrity, trust and honesty are lost, healing and restoration takes time. If your lost integrity has hurt people extremely deep, some people may never forgive you. You may never be trusted by some, ever again, but with time, slowly, little by little, as you live your life redeveloping your inward moral integrity, that trust can return for most.
Integrity is something that you cannot put a pricetag on. It is invaluable.
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