Category: Christian Living

Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.

Christian Idolatry

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 20, 2023

We Are Made in God’s Image, Not the Other Way Around

An idol is anything that becomes more important than God. The Old Testament of the Bible talks a lot about God’s displeasure with his people worshipping idols, that is, false God’s.

Today our idols may be things like money, career, possessions, and status. Even family can become our idol.

Yet there’s another form of idol worship today. It’s Christian idolatry.

Christian idolatry is a widespread practice. Most people accept it and even celebrate it. Christian idolatry occurs when we try to make God into who we want him to be, not who the Bible says he is. It’s modern-day idol worship.

It’s wrong. It’s short sighted. And it may have eternal consequences.

A Religious Smorgasbord

The prevailing attitude today is that everyone needs to decide for themselves what’s right and wrong. There are no absolutes. Society encourages this mindset.

And people apply this misguided perspective to their faith. This results in one form of Christian idolatry. It occurs when people mix religions.

Though they may start with Christianity as their basis, they selectively pick beliefs and practices from other world religions—and popular culture—to stir into their pot.

They end up with their own faith concoction. Though it may taste good, it’s not nutritious. And it may kill them.

Selective Christianity

Another form of Christian idolatry—one more pervasive and less obvious—is selecting what parts of biblical truth to accept and what to reject.

If a passage in the Bible offends, people don’t seek to change their perspective to align with God’s. Instead, they disregard that text as being irrelevant or obsolete.

They read Scripture—if they read it at all—with a highlighter in one hand and scissors in the other. They celebrate the text they like and disregard what they don’t understand or don’t like.

Then they augment what’s left by adding common misconceptions about God, the Bible, and Christian faith. In doing so, they become secular Christians.

They forget that the Bible is the only authoritative faith foundation.

Made in God’s Image

God created us in his image (Genesis 1:26). He made us to be like him. More correctly the godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made us to be like them.

When we make up our own faith practices, it’s as if we’re trying to make God into our image. Implicitly we’re saying we don’t want to view him or approach him for who he is but how we want to perceive him.

We don’t want to worship him the way he says to but the way we want to.

A faith that we make up may make us feel good, but it can’t save us. And being sincere is not enough either, for we can be sincerely wrong.

This is the root of Christian idolatry. It occurs when we try to make God into our image. And we must stop.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags faith, idolatry

Christian Living

What Are Your Sunday Practices?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 13, 2023

Keep the Sabbath Holy and Don’t Do Any Work

In my post God Rested, I talked about the Old Testament command to keep the Sabbath holy and not do any work (Exodus 20:8-11). Yet Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law, so it doesn’t apply anymore (Matthew 5:17).

However, God rested on the seventh day of creation and declared it holy (Genesis 2:2-3). So, what should our Sunday practices be?

Our Conscience and Our Freedom

My parents taught me not to work on Sunday. It’s a Sunday practice that has stayed with me. Even though I no longer believe I must adhere to it with legalistic zeal, I still mostly do.

I let my conscience guide me. Like Paul, I want to keep my conscience clear (Acts 23:1). And later, in Paul’s teaching about food sacrificed to idols, we get a principle about following our consciences (1 Corinthians 8:1-13). That is what I do.

Yet, I don’t judge anyone whose conscience gives them a different path to follow for their Sunday practices (1 Corinthians 10:29). After all, Jesus gives us freedom (Galatians 5:1).

My key guide in my Sunday practices comes from Jesus. He said the Sabbath—which most people now apply to Sunday—was made for us, not the other way around (Mark 2:27).

Sunday Examples to Consider

For my Sunday practices, which I share only for consideration, I treat it as a set apart day. A holy day, if you will. I want it to be different than the other six days of the week. It’s a special day, that I get to experience once a week.

On this set-apart-day, I go to church with family, enjoy time with them afterward, and do things that give me joy. I don’t do any regular work, but I do pursue activities that relax me. These activities give me a Sabbath rest.

I might watch a limited amount of TV, take a short nap, go for a walk, listen to a podcast, or work on a crossword puzzle.

I also look for a project to do, that although it may look like work, will fill me with joy and provide a sense of accomplishment, fulfilling a personal need I have.

I especially relish when I can immerse myself in God’s creation and worship him through nature. This is often when we connect at the deepest level.

A friend enjoys a Sunday afternoon of weeding in her garden; it is a holy time that draws her to God. A pastor likes to go fishing after Sunday dinner; it gives him rest and helps prepare him for the week ahead.

Though neither of these Sunday practices would work for me, I’m happy it does for them.

Pursue a Sunday Practice

It’s worthwhile for us to consider our creator’s blessing on the seventh day to make it holy, along with his example of rest.

Yet it is up to us to figure out the best way to do it as we develop our own Sunday practices.

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Tags creation, holy, podcast, Sabbath rest, Sunday, worship

Christian Living

Secular Christians

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 6, 2023

Carefully Consider Your Faith Foundation and the Basis for What You Believe

Some Christians base their faith on what the Bible says. Others, however, reject this view as outdated and judgmental. Instead, they allow society to guide their practices, which veers further and further from a firm faith foundation. They have become secular Christians.

Here are some characteristics of secular Christians:

Being Politically Correct Is More Important Than Being Biblically Correct

Political correctness guides their perspectives, their thoughts, and their words. When this view contradicts what the Bible says, they dismiss Scripture and align with the current prevailing opinion of secular society.

Public opinion matters more to them than God’s Word, so they waffle in the wind of societal attitudes. And when that attitude shifts, they shift with it. As a result, they build their life on a foundation of sand. What they don’t realize is that it won’t last (Matthew 7:26).

Jesus Isn’t Central but Ancillary

Jesus is the star of the Bible, with the Old Testament anticipating him and the New Testament telling us about him and the work of his followers. He calls his disciples to put him first in their lives, to make him a priority (Matthew 10:38).

Yet secular Christians move away from this ideal. Yes, they may view Jesus as a wise teacher, a good man, or someone worthy of admiration, but he’s not someone to give their life to. As a result, Jesus becomes one pursuit among many. He doesn’t rise above all else. Instead, he’s more apt to be buried by it.

Society’s Views Supersede Scripture

Sometimes what the Bible says isn’t popular among progressive thinking people. When they read Scripture—if they read it at all—it’s as if they have a highlighter in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. But this is Christian idolatry. They don’t read and believe the entire Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).

When the Bible agrees with what society says, secular Christians affirm Scripture. But when it runs contrary to popular opinion, they dismiss or decry those passages.

At best, secular Christians view the Bible through the lens of culture. In the process, they distort the Word of God and delude themselves into assuming it says something it doesn’t say.

Christian Is a Label More Than a Lifestyle

Given this, it’s easy for these folks to treat the word Christian as a name that carries little weight. It may encompass a political perspective, a vague reference that means whatever they want it to mean, or a convenient description that allows for acceptance among some groups.

Instead, Jesus calls us to go all in for him (Matthew 19:29). To fully follow him is a full-time commitment. We make a U-turn with our lives to be his disciple. Saying we’re a Christian means nothing unless our lifestyle matches what Jesus calls us to do.

Don’t Be a Secular Christian

Just because someone says they’re a Christian doesn’t mean they really are. Too many people in our world today are secular Christians and nothing more. But Jesus has a higher calling for us (Hebrews 3:1).

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Tags faith, follow Jesus, idolatry

Christian Living

When We Say We’ll Do What God Says, Do We Really Mean It?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 1, 2023

The People Ask Jeremiah to Seek God’s Will, But They Don’t Like the Answer

Those few of God’s chosen people left in the promised land have it bad. Babylon has conquered them. Insurgents have just killed their captor’s appointed ruler, and the people fear they’ll face retribution.

They Seek God

They do what they should’ve done all along. They turn to God. They want to know God’s will. But they can’t, or don’t know how to, hear directly from the Almighty. Instead they want an intermediary. They go to Jeremiah for help.

“Pray to the Lord,” they ask the prophet, “and inquire of him where we should go and what we should do.”

Jeremiah Agrees but with a Caveat

The prophet listens to the people’s request and commits to seek God as they asked. Then he adds a warning. He pledges to tell the people everything that God says whether encouraging or discouraging, whether positive or negative. And for his part, Jeremiah promises to not hold anything back.

“We’ll do whatever God says,” the people promise. “Whether good or bad we will obey him.” They sound sincere. We assume they are. But let’s see what happens.

Jeremiah Waits to Hear from God

God and Jeremiah have a tight connection. He hears regularly from God and writes it down for the people—and for us—to read. It seems reasonable that as soon as Jeremiah seeks God’s instructions that he’ll get a quick response. It should only take a few minutes.

But God’s timing is different than ours. God doesn’t speak to Jeremiah right away. For the rest of the day nothing happens. For the rest of the week there’s no word from God. Then ten days later the word of God comes to Jeremiah.

An Unexpected Message

The people are afraid and want to flee the promised land. They wonder if Egypt is the ideal place to go. There they’ll be out of the grasp of Babylon’s reach. They expect God will confirm their logical decision to scurry off to Egypt.

But God doesn’t do what they expect. He tells them that if they stay put, he will bless them. The Lord says they shouldn’t fear the military might of Babylon. They should place their trust in him instead.

“However,” God says, “if you disobey me and don’t stay where I put you and instead scoot off to Egypt, then don’t expect any favors.” Though they reason that Egypt will afford them food and safety, instead they’ll die there from starvation and war.

Jeremiah did is the people asked. He sought God’s will and then, as promised, told the people everything God said. There’s a blessing for obedience and a warning for disobedience.

The People’s Response

The people promised they would do what God said. They heard Jeremiah’s message of what to do, along with the accompanying promise of provision. They also heard Jeremiah’s message of what not to do, along with the associated warning of death.

What do the people do? They accuse Jeremiah of lying. Following the adage, “they shoot the messenger”—at least metaphorically.

They don’t like Jeremiah’s message, so they decide to dismiss it. But by ignoring Jeremiah, they’re ignoring God. They decide to do what they wanted to do all along. They hightail it to Egypt, disobeying God’s command in the process.

And to Jeremiah’s dismay, they drag him off with them as they flee to Egypt.

What About Us?

When we say we’ll obey what God says, do we really mean it? Too often our obedience is selective. We do what’s easy and ignore the difficult parts of God’s commands that don’t make sense or that we don’t like. In short, we don’t believe God’s message—at least, not fully.

God’s people did it long ago, and God’s people still do it today. May we break this pattern of selective obedience.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Jeremiah 41-45, and today’s post is on Jeremiah 42:1-3.]

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Tags disobedience, God speaks, hear God, Jeremiah, obey God

Christian Living

God Rested

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 30, 2023

The Creator Rested on the Seventh Day—Maybe We Should Too

I’ve written a lot about taking a Sunday Sabbath. My goal is to treat it as a special day, one different from the other six days of my week. I’ve talked about my reasons for doing so, but I’ve seldom mentioned that the impetus for this comes from way back at creation.

After the Creator spent six days creating our reality, God rested on the seventh day.

The law in the Old Testament Scripture makes it clear about what God expected of his people on the last day of the week, the Sabbath. They are to keep it holy and rest (Exodus 20:8-11). That’s it.

They weren’t supposed to go to the temple, except for special celebrations. They were supposed to keep the Sabbath holy and rest.

Although Jesus followed this Sabbath rule (for the most part) he did tweak his practices a bit.

We often see Jesus healing people on the Sabbath, much to the religious leaders’ dismay. When questioned about this he said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

While we could take this as permission to do whatever we want on our Sunday Sabbath, the context is doing good, in helping others. It wasn’t Jesus doing whatever he wanted. And we shouldn’t use this passage as justification for us to do whatever we want either.

Another time Jesus said he came to fulfill the Old Testament law and prophets (Matthew 5:17). Does this mean that God’s Old Testament command to keep the Sabbath day holy and not do any work no longer applies to us today?

Many people draw this conclusion. Though they aren’t entirely wrong in doing so, they aren’t entirely right either.

Notice Jesus didn’t say he’d fulfill all their Scriptures, only the parts containing the law and prophets.

The creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 predates God giving his law to Moses several centuries later. And it certainly precedes all the prophets. Jesus’s fulfillment doesn’t apply to the historic portions of Scripture, including Genesis.

After the Creator made people on the sixth day of creation, he proclaimed the seventh day as holy. And God rested (Genesis 2:2-3).

If God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh, we will do well to follow his example and rest one day each week, treating it as a holy, set-apart day.

We could do this on the last day of the week as God modeled for us, or we could do it on the first day of the week according to the Christian tradition.

When we do it isn’t important, but for me, it is important that we do. That’s why I treat my Sundays differently as a holy day of rest.

I do this because God rested, and so will I.

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Tags creation, Jesus, Sabbath rest, Sunday

Christian Living

Do You Need to Unplug?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 23, 2023

Turn off and stow all devices: Unplug and hear from God

To Hear from God, We Must Be Ready to Listen

Advice that’s commonly given to writers is that we need to unplug from time to time to fuel our writing and feed our creativity. When we remove the distractions of our technology is when inspiration strikes. It’s when we solve writing problems and are best able to move forward with our words.

Unplug to Hear God

The same is true—even more so—with our faith. We need to unplug and have idle time—that is, available time—for us to best hear from God.

Yes, his voice can overpower anything and everything that surrounds us, but it’s much easier for us to hear when his message doesn’t have to compete with the barrage of information that we surround ourselves with and assaults us on a continuous basis.

Multitasking Divides Our Attention

I see too many people with their smartphones open when there’s no need for it. They’re engaged with their technology and miss much of the life happening around them. Though they think they can do both, they’re deluding themselves.

We can’t truly multitask. Though we can do one subconscious activity along with one conscious activity, we can’t fully do two conscious activities at the same time. One will always suffer, perhaps both.

Trying to multitask between a device and people disrespects others.

The same is true—with even more significant consequences—when we try to multitask our time with God. We can’t be fully present with him when we’re partially engaged with our technology.

To be with God we need to unplug.

Remove Distractions

But it’s not just our technology that contends with our time with God. Yes, the place to start is to put away our smartphones, turn off the television, and walk away from our computers. Yet, our busyness can also keep us from God.

When we pack every moment of our life with intention, we effectively remove God from our schedule—from our life. True, he can interrupt our plans to interject his own, but how open are we to do this? And how do we react when he tries to get our attention?

Though we need to be careful not to take this too far, sometimes we should unplug from life. This doesn’t mean to isolate ourselves or forgo social interaction, but it does mean that sometimes we need to be quiet to listen for God’s still and small voice.

Open Our Ears

The sons of Korah write that the Almighty says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, NIV). We start this when we unplug, stop multitasking, and remove distractions from our lives.

Then we can open our ears and hear what God wants to tell us. We can be in his presence. We can bask in his glory. And then we’ll have the best chance to hear what God has to say.

When people complain that they don’t hear from God, I wonder how hard they’re trying. If they unplug and be in a posture to receive, they’ll have a much better chance.

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Tags hear God, psalm, technology, television

Christian Living

The Song of Moses

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 19, 2023

Psalm 152 from Beyond Psalm 150

Psalm 90 is the oldest chapter in the book of Psalms. Moses wrote it. Though it’s his only entry in the Psalms, Moses penned other songs as well, but we need to search for them.

We encounter one in the book of Exodus, we’ll call it the song of Moses. Though we don’t know when in his life Moses wrote Psalm 90, this passage in Exodus likely came first.

Moses and the people have just left Egypt and head toward the promised land. Blocked by an uncrossable sea before them and chased by the pursuing Egyptian army behind them, they have no path for escape. Death is certain.

Yet God miraculously rescues them. He divides the sea so that his people can cross the space before them on dry land and reach the other side. When the Egyptian army follows them across, the waters crash upon them, and they perish.

God saves his people from certain death, and Moses writes this psalm—song of Moses—in praise to Yahweh.

I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously.
    He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.
Yah is my strength and song.
    He has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him;
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Yahweh is a man of war.
    Yahweh is his name.
He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea.
    His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.
The deeps cover them.
    They went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power.
    Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you.
    You send out your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.
With the blast of your nostrils, the waters were piled up.
    The floods stood upright as a heap.
    The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder.
    My desire will be satisfied on them.
    I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’
You blew with your wind.
    The sea covered them.
    They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods?
    Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
    fearful in praises, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand.
    The earth swallowed them.
You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed.
    You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.
The peoples have heard.
    They tremble.
    Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed.
    Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab.
    All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread falls on them.
    By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone,
    until your people pass over, Yahweh,
    until the people you have purchased pass over.
You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
    the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in;
    the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
Yahweh will reign forever and ever.
Exodus 15:1–18 (WEB)

Reflections on the Song of Moses

Think about a time when God miraculously protected you from danger or harm. This moment may have been epic or perhaps it felt small, but either way your life took a different path as a result.

Did you praise God for his deliverance then? Take a moment and do so now—or do it again.

May we revere Yahweh as he works in our lives.

Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags Beyond Psalm 150, Moses

Christian Living

What Is God’s Perception of You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 16, 2023

How We See Ourselves May Differ from How Our Heavenly Father Sees Us

I was recently reminded that God’s perception of us can be quite different from our own self-perception.

The pressures of life overwhelmed a friend. One concern, a second, and then more conspired to weigh her down and steal her joy. She emailed me with a list of worries and asked me to pray.

Her concerns included the status of her job and her husband’s, finances, possible repercussions in standing up for what is right, her children’s struggles, and a lack of clarity over critical future decisions. Her message was full of worry and despair. And it surprised me.

It seemed out of character. I see her as a strong woman, full of faith and abounding in courage. This is far different from what her email portrayed.

Yet as I considered her situation more fully, I realized my lofty perception of her is misaligned from the reality I sometimes see in her life. There have indeed been seasons when she has worried and fretted over what is and what might be. Through these times we prayed, and God provided.

I laughed at myself over how wrong my perception was, but then God told me that my assessment of her as a strong woman, full of faith and abounding in courage was correct.

“You see her as I see her,” my Heavenly Father gently whispered in my ear. That gave me joy . . . and much hope.

Quite simply, God sees us differently than we see ourselves. Never forget that.

Gideon

This reminds me of the story of Gideon in the Bible. God sent an angel to Gideon, who at the time was hiding in a winepress has he tried to thresh his wheat. God’s messenger called Gideon “a mighty warrior.” This surprised Gideon. Not only was he living in fear, but he saw himself as the least in his family.

God’s perception of Gideon was quite different than his own.

Yet Gideon seriously doubted what God called him to do. Despite his lack of faith in the beginning, Gideon obeyed God in the end and did what God told him to do. And Gideon prevailed through God’s provisions (Judges 6-7).

As with Gideon, we can view things from a human perspective, considering the tangible evidence around us and draw one set of conclusions. Or we can consider things from a spiritual perspective and reach a far different conclusion, one more closely aligned with Papa’s.

God’s Perception

God gave me his perspective for my friend. Though it didn’t match what I could see in the physical world, it did align with what I perceived from a spiritual perspective.

God’s perception is the one that matters.

This makes me wonder about God’s perception of me. I suspect he’s much kinder and more generous of who I am than my own critical self-assessment.

More importantly what’s God’s perception of you? Does he offer you grace and mercy while you pile up judgment and condemnation that weighs you down? Though we could have an inflated self-perception, I suspect most followers of Jesus think less of ourselves than we ought to.

God’s perception of us is what matters. We can count on it.

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Tags Gideon, grace, Heavenly Father, mercy, prayer

Christian Living

Celebrating Scripture’s Other Psalms

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 12, 2023

Discover More Psalms in the Bible from Exodus through to Revelation

Paul writes to the church in Colossae that they are to teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in their heart to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).

He writes a similar sentiment to the church in Ephesus: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18–19).

The book of Psalms feels like an ideal place to start this quest.

Some people think of the Psalms as a collection of Hebrew poems. I like that. Others call it a prayer journal. I like this perspective too. Just as our prayers cover a range of styles and emotions, so do the Psalms.

We can have Psalms (and prayers) of praise, lament, thanksgiving, and so forth. Some Psalms burst forth as a corporate hymn, while others seep out slowly as a personal prayer of anguish.

Whatever our mood or perspective there’s likely a psalm that captures our emotion and our heart. It’s no wonder, then, that people over the centuries have so treasured the Psalms.

The range of content addressed by the Psalms covers a wide array of themes.

Bible scholars attempt to classify the Psalms by topic, but there’s little agreement in their groupings. The labels they use include hymns, laments, thanksgiving, praise, compassion, liturgy, prophecy, petition, and so on.

The Bible’s Other Psalms

Yet not all the Bible’s psalms reside in the book of Psalms. Other psalms occur throughout Scripture from Exodus to Revelation. This book collects these randomly located passages to make it easy to find them and to immerse ourselves in them.

Compiling this list of these other psalms scattered throughout Scripture has been a time-consuming yet stimulating task. To create this list, I looked for passages of song and poetry that provided personal or community prayer and worship.

This book contains those passages, with sixty-seven more biblical psalms for us to contemplate, commiserate, or celebrate. As we do, may God receive our attention and adoration.

Some of these psalms appear in paragraph form instead of as poetry. This is because of the translation used, not because these passages aren’t biblical poetry. Regardless of the format, embrace each one as a psalm.

Given that Psalm 151 is in the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew, used in Jesus’s day), we’ll start our numbering of these other psalms at 152. This is for convenience and structure, nothing more.

Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.

[In exploring these other psalms scattered throughout the Bible, we’ll use the World English Bible (WEB) as our text. It’s based on the revered American Standard Version of 1901 and updated for today’s readers.

Notable in the WEB is the use of the Hebrew name Yahweh (or sometimes just Yah) instead of Lord or Jehovah. It adds a sense of awe, connecting us today with our faith’s Hebrew heritage.]

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags Beyond Psalm 150, lament, psalm, Thanksgiving

Christian Living

What Happened to Integrity?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 9, 2023

May Our Life Honor God and Be an Example to Others

Integrity is largely missing in our world today. It looms as an out-of-date concept. Many even mock it as restrictive, limiting our desire to act however we want.

Integrity is an unwavering adherence to moral principles and ethical behavior. It’s being honest. It’s sound moral character.

Given this definition, don’t we want to deal with people of integrity? Certainly we expect the companies we do business with to act with integrity. But many do not.

Don’t we want our friends—especially our closest ones—to be people of integrity? And we desire that our family and loved ones will live lives of integrity.

Yet we must wonder if we act with the same integrity that we expect from others.

Integrity is also biblical.

Consider Job

In the Bible we see Job as a man of integrity. Even Satan, Job’s accuser, views him as a man of integrity (Job 2:3). So does Job’s wife (Job 2:9). And even Job himself (Job 27:5). In the end, God rewards him for it.

Other People in the Bible

The Old Testament says that David leads the people with integrity (Psalm 78:72). And Hananiah is a trustworthy man of integrity (Nehemiah 7:2).

Paul self identifies as a man of integrity (2 Corinthians 1:12). And he encourages Titus to do the same (Titus 2:7-8).

Lessons from Proverbs

The book of proverbs also covers this topic.

If we walk in integrity, we will walk securely (Proverbs 10:9).

Our integrity will guide us (Proverbs 11:3) and guard us (Proverbs 13:6).

Last, the bloodthirsty—implicitly evil people—will hate those with integrity (Proverbs 29:10).

Leadership

In Paul’s instructions to Timothy, he teaches his protegee to appoint leaders in the area. They must be people of integrity (1 Timothy 3:8), just as we expect from all our church leaders and spiritual mentors.

The Integrity of Jesus

Most importantly, we see throughout the four biographies of Jesus that he is a man of integrity.

Even Jesus’s detractors confirm this (Matthew 22:16 and Mark 12:14). Though their words may be disingenuous, complimenting him to catch him off guard, we realize they acknowledge an underlying truth that even they’re aware of.

Jesus’s life serves as an example for us to emulate, the best model we could follow. As we seek to be like Jesus, we will be people of integrity.

And as people of integrity, we will honor him, be an example to others, and serve as a witness to the world. And our actions will speak more powerfully than our words.

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Tags Jesus, Job, King David, Paul, Proverbs, witness