Integrity as Our Core

"Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'"  That is what Jesus said to His disciples.  He was teaching them that to be a follower of His they must be people of integrity, who say what they mean, and mean what they say.  We must be people who keep their words.  Without integrity everything we say or do will be compromised.  And Jesus tells them further, "Anything more is from the Evil One" (Mt. 5:37).

There's really not much more to say about that.  Our "yes" ought to mean "yes," and our "no" ought to mean "no."  We cannot say one thing and then do something else.  We cannot doing something one way and then tell others to do it another way.  There are no exceptions and they are no special privileges.  Both the leader and the follower are bound by the same rules.  Jesus, who is God and Lord became human and was born under the law so that we could be freed from it.  When Jesus told us that He loved us, and said He came to give us life, He meant it, and He showed us exactly that.  Look at the Cross.  Jesus didn't deserve that and yet He willingly accepted it.  Why?  Because He said He would.  What about us?  Do I mean what I say? 

Father, teach me to be a person of integrity so that whatever I say and do reflect the truth and give glory to Your Holy Name.  Give me the strength and courage to not fall into the temptations and lures of the world and become a person of duplicity, a person who speaks to please but curses in my heart.  Give me the grace to be a person of authenticity and not of hypocrisy. 

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