The Anatomy of Character

When I'm in a crowded room, I have this innate ability to hear every conversation around me. I call it peripheral hearing. My wife thinks it's just ADD. She's probably right.

Anyway, the other day we were having lunch at a restaurant and my peripheral hearing honed in on a particular conversation a mother was having with her son. It went something like this:

Mother: You know what happens when you lie?

Boy: Uh huh!

Mother: You lose your integrity. Do you know what integrity is?

Boy: Uh huh!

Mother: What is integrity?

Boy: Your bones.

Mother: Bones? Nooooo. Integrity is what is inside you. What makes you happy. When you lose your integrity you are unhappy.

Is it wrong that I thought the boys definition was better than the mother's? After all, integrity is really defined as "the state of being unimpaired, whole, or complete." In all fairness to the boy, if you are missing bones or have bones that are broken, then you are impaired physically and not whole, your mobility is limited...Ultimately, your physical/structural integrity is compromised.

Integrity is the foundational structure of our character. Without it, we are not functioning as we were created to function, we are limited in our capacity for healthy relationships, and we are impaired as leaders. Billy Graham said, "Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact...when character is lost, all is lost."

As such, we must endeavor to be people of integrity, honest and honorable people, who understand that our character is what gives us credibility in the human congregation. Integrity is the foundation for our character. Integrity authenticates our humanity. It is living as we were created to live. It is our capacity for greatness.

Therefore, as followers of Christ, it is vital that we protect our integrity...It is our very bones...the anatomy of our character.