Bacon, Eggs and God

 

Integrity

Integrity is to personal character what health is to the body. A person with integrity is not divided or merely pretending. He or she is whole and things are working harmoniously. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books.

We have an integrity crisis today. People are not only deeply divided; they don’t know who to trust. Only a government or ministry with integrity will stand the test of time. Everything else fades away. Fads come and go, glitz will attract people, but it won’t hold them, and programs often lose their appeal. But integrity never goes out of style. 

For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

All too often, the door of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition. In Philippi, Paul and Silas had been stripped, beaten, and jailed. Only a midnight earthquake had freed them. They left after the city authorities begged them to go, fearing civic unrest. When they arrived in Thessalonica, things weren’t much better. They were forced to leave the city much earlier than they had planned. 

What was Paul’s response to this opposition? But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 

Speaking the truth is rarely popular. For every person who receives it gladly, many more will have nothing to do with it. If we are waiting to win the world by acclamation, it isn’t going to happen. Jesus warned us that, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Paul just kept on speaking the truth. If they listened, that was good. If they didn’t, that was too bad. If they opposed him, he didn’t stop. If they attacked him, he kept on going. 

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to keep on doing what you are already doing, whether anyone pays attention or not. If you keep doing right long enough, sooner or later it will pay off.

If we live to please the Lord, in the end it won’t matter what our critics say about us.