Thoughts on Integrity

[AmBraCol]

Recently there was a post on men and boys that brought out some interesting thoughts on the topic of what it means to be a man or a boy in today's society. Me? I figure society may have changed, but the need for integrity has not. Here's an extract of an email sent to a list I've been on for the past... more years than I can remember. He went from humor focused to more focus on spiritual matters. This year he's doing a series on diverse Hebrew words. Here's one from a couple days ago.

By alansmith77 on February 6, 2026

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” (Proverbs 11:3)

The Hebrew word translated “upright” here is yashar (יָשַׁר), pronounced yah-SHAR. It is often translated “upright” or “right,” but at its core it means straight or level. Picture a carpenter using a level while building a house, or a long stretch of highway that runs in a straight path without weaving all over the place.

What’s interesting is how often Scripture uses yashar to describe both paths and people. A yashar person walks a yashar path. There’s consistency there. Integrity. No moral zigzagging. What you see is what you get.

Proverbs 11:3 draws a clear contrast. Those who are upright are guided by their integrity. It’s like having an internal compass that always points you in the right direction. But those who abandon straightness? Their crookedness becomes their destruction. The verse isn’t threatening God’s judgment. It’s describing reality. When we twist ourselves long enough, something inside us eventually snaps.

So, how straight is the path you’re walking right now? Not perfection. That’s not the point. This is about trajectory, about the general direction of your life. Are you the same person in private that you are in public? Does your Monday behavior match your Sunday worship?

Yashar living means your words and actions match. It means you don’t have to remember which version of the truth you told to which person. It means the person that shows up at work is the same person that shows up at home, at church, or online.

Living a life of integrity brings peace. When you’re living straight, you don’t have to manage different versions of yourself. But when you live with duplicity, you’re always juggling. Over time, that wears you down. Eventually you lose track of which mask is the real you. That’s the destruction Proverbs is talking about. It happens from the inside out.

But let’s be honest, this kind of living isn’t easy, especially in a world that often rewards the crooked path, the half-truth, the careful image management. Straight paths can feel costly in the short term. It might mean admitting a mistake when you could’ve gotten away with it. It might mean keeping a promise when circumstances have made it inconvenient.

But God himself is described as yashar. His ways are straight. His judgments are right. When we choose integrity, we aren’t just following rules. We’re reflecting his character.

Here’s the challenge: pay attention to one area where you’ve been tempted to take the scenic route around the truth. Maybe it’s a quiet exaggeration. Maybe it’s a compromise no one sees. Choose the straight line instead. Let integrity guide you before crookedness starts doing its quiet damage.

[JimT]

Thank you Paul. Well said. And here is an old one from the past ...

HONOR

Honor is a concept of life (a value if you will) that we are losing in today's value-free society. Very few seem to have any idea of honor either in their daily lives, their relationships or their work. Webster's Dictionary defines "honor' as: "...official dignity, repute, esteem - a keen sense of right and wrong - adherence to actions or principles considered right - integrity - to bring respect .... to show regard..."

In the Old Testament, the Bible uses several different Hebrew words that are translated "honor." These carry the idea of magnificence or splendor. In the New Testament, the main Greek word translated "honor" means "to praise or to revere." It has its origin in a Greek word meaning "valuable." In fact the Greek word for "without honor" literally means "no value."

Honor, used in the sense of how one lives their life means "BEING TRUE TO WHAT IS RIGHT." Since many today have no concept of what is right or what is wrong (including many of our country's leaders unfortunately, both the spiritual and the legislative ones) it should be of little surprise that people today have no honor. From what is coming out of our educational institutions it makes one wonder if many of our teachers or professors have any honor.

In today's society those who would live honorably are often looked upon as being weirdo's or fanatics.

Honor is a many-sided virtue and includes:

Self-Discipline--disciplining or training oneself.
Responsibility--being accountable to ourselves and to others.
Courage--standing our ground in the face of impossible odds.
Perseverance--keeping on keeping on when it would be much easier just to quit.
Honesty-being genuine, real, in everything we do.
Loyalty--being faithful to others.
Duty - doing what's right whether or not it's popular and whether or not we win.
Faith--reaching beyond ourselves and our own abilities.

Each of these, by the way, is a sermon in itself.

Honor involves being true to our word. This is found among all races of man. Of the Sioux Indian it has been written by those who lived with them "..... honesty was an absolute, and lying was sure to bring the direst consequences. The straight stem of the pipe a man smoked represented the need to speak straightly .. so that it might never be said of him that he spoke with two tongues ......" (The Mystic Warriors of the Plains, pg. 69)

In the early days of the West a person was judged by how true they were to their word. Many a cattle contract worth thousands of dollars were concluded simply on a handshake. If a man gave his word he was expected to keep it.

This concept has its roots in the Judeo-Christian ethic, though it can be found among many other cultures. Psalm 15 in the Old Testament describes the solid, unmovable man who will enjoy God's blessing as one who "...keeps a promise even if it ruins him..." (Ps 15:4, The Living Bible)

To live honorably means to remain true to what is right in spite of pressure to do otherwise. Even if no one is watching! The life thus lived is of great value. To die with honor means that we must first live honorably. To live honorably, and to die honorably. The life so lived counts for something. It has purpose. It is valuable.

This to me is a mark of a real Shootist. A man of honor. To a man of honor you can entrust your property, your possessions, your family or your life and know they are looked after. You would not have to worry about them.

Live honorably. It will attract those who have a similar honor and you will stand out from among the ordinary. Who knows what life you may influence? In the end, if someone says of me, "He was an honorable man." I will count it as the highest compliment.

[AJMD429]

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It is sad to see how it SEEMS that integrity and honor are floundering in today's world.

However, Reading history and religious tracts written centuries ago often indicates that the that those virtues are in decline it seems to be a recurring theme. Hopefully it is just an ongoing observation by generally older and more experienced people That reflects the generally younger and less experienced people. Social media seems to bring out the worst in people and broadcast it, why those who do good things mostly just do them and don't get in the news about it. So maybe things aren't as bad as we think and it's just pop culture and social media that makes it seem bad.

Many if not most of people I deal with on a day to day basis are patients, and I am struck by how many of my patients seem to have good values and integrity and honor, even the young ones. Probably that is in part because of the nature of my practice being a long standing one where I see people with intact families and I see subsequent generations of those same families. Also people who see me have to pay for my services so they tend to be free market individuals, both wealthy and poor, but who value the honor and integrity inherent in a direct relationship when one is to receive a product or service. I think another big factor is that many of my patients have deep religious faith, and have referred their friends and fellow church members to me, and I think the reason that is a big factor is that many of them either homeschool or use a school provided by their church. Even the few who use government run schools probably spend a great deal of time undoing the damage till their kids turn out pretty well.

But if you were to judge by the videos of college campuses these days it seems like we're about to hand the world over to a generation of incredibly uninformed socialists who lack enough thinking skills to solve the simplest logic or math or economics problem. They may have a PhD in some fancy science field, but can't even understand the basics of supply and demand or why minimum wage is a horrible concept or anything remotely to do with the foundational structure of the United States government. So many of them are filled with hate and rage and materialism and selfishness that if they are going to truly be the ones who inherit the world we're all in big trouble.

I do think my parent's generation (born 1910's) were generally far better educated, far more sensible, and all of the ones I met clearly had integrity.

[AmBraCol]

I know families that raise their children with these principles. And families that do not. But there are more families that DO teach integrity and honor than many in today's society realize. They don't make waves. They make a difference. A positive difference.

[Bill in Oregon]

I'm one who often falls short. I have a lot of regrets.
But my hope and belief is the Father sees men and women trying to be better than what they realize they were as something honorable, even if it doesn't gain them admission to exclusive societies.
If that fails to qualify as some kind of honor and integrity then I am out -- but I already knew that.

[JimT]

Bill .. it sure does not mean we don't fail at times and come short quite a lot. I know I do. And I am not always aware of it until later!!

[piller]

My opinion, so it is worth what you paid for it. Honesty is a virtue. Being trustworthy is worth a lot. Our creator knows we fail, but he gave us a way to be redeemed and washed clean from our failures. If we never stop trying and always believe, then we are given a second chance.

[AmBraCol]

Living by integrity and honor doesn't mean perfection, not by any means. But it lays out guidelines that help us along the way. One must have an idea of what one is attempting to achieve, and then live each day doing one's best to do better than yesterday. The first two verses of the 12th chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans spells it out quite nicely.

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Understanding that what I do in this body is an act of "living sacrifice" to God helps me to better control what I do in this body. There's a long way to go, no doubt, but it helps me know what I'm striving for. As Christians we're not saved BY good works, we are saved FOR good works. And that, too, gives me something to work towards. Learning to think different from the world around us is vital. Too often the world settles for "good enough" instead of reaching for "the best possible¨. Striving for integrity and honor focus on the latter instead of the former. One day at a time!

[Griff]

I was once asked if I'd teach at the local Jr. College Police Academy, namely the course on Police Ethics. But, I'd have to provide my own syllabus. I searched online trying to find an example and failed miserably. Trying to write my own was also fraught with failure... all I could come up with were negative examples. I was never sure if that would be productive... it never felt right. My limited understanding is that integrity is living up to a set of ethics. It was always a troublesome subject as a street officer. So many temptations... the free coffee & donuts to discounted meals being among the most innocuous. I watched more senior officers take 'em without a second thought. Did I turn 'em in... these were the guys that would(?) have my back in a pinch. So, in short, no. But, I did start to lead by example, leaving enough of a "tip" to cover the full price of whatever it might be... coffee, meal or whatever. Some officers would tell me various corporations genuinely wanted us to take the freebies. I even had servers who refused that... telling me that their management required them to give the discount or freebie. I began to realize it's a very convoluted set of standards to weave into one's own set. Making a simple set of ethics ever more challenging. It's tough to live up to one's own set of standards, let alone other folk's, however high or low they might be.

Ultimately, I didn't accept the offer to teach. I sure wish that I would've had the kind of contacts back then that this forum has shown me. I'd have bugged the whatever out of y'all! Y'all are an inspiration. Just living by the "Golden Rule" is tough.

[Bill in Oregon]

Paul, when I think about you and Jim, giving lives as missionaries, I am humbled, just as I am even as a Protestant when I encounter Catholic priests, monks, and nuns. I so appreciate the scope of the sacrifice, which I fall so far short of and admit I am even jealous of. Doctrinal differences don't mean spit to me. It's the committed heart, life and soul that shine so brightly that I must avert my gaze.

[JimT]

Speaking for myself, there was never any sacrifice as far as Twyla and I felt. We were excited to cut loose from everything and go where we felt we were being directed to go. It was an Adventure of Faith! We knew from the first that we might never return, though in truth I always felt I would pass first. But as far as sacrifice, it felt more like a privilege ... being allowed to participate in what Papa God was doing. It was some of THE MOST amazing times of life I have ever had. I am so grateful to have been allowed to experience it.

[mickbr]

Honor, dignity, integrity etc work best when the average person has the option to exercise them alongside the most powerful. When a society becomes imbalanced in some way, the gap between those who are honorable and those who arent also imbalances. The incentive is lost to seek virtue. Not by everyone, there a percentage of folk who never fold, even in chaos or tyranny.

[earlmck]

This is a most timely thread in light of the Epstein document dump showing the depravity and total lack of any moral compass amongst the "rulers of the world" within which Epstein performed.