Read Matthew 12:33-37
Am I A Person Of Integrity? If So You’ll See My Fruit.
Jesus continues to confront the Pharisees. He says if your heart is good, then you’ll produce good fruit. If your heart is bad / evil, then you’ll produce bad fruit. People will know the character of your heart by your fruit. Then Jesus calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers because he sees their evil heart and tells them no good can come from an evil heart. Jesus said that on Judgment Day, we will have to give account for every careless word that comes out of our mouths. He says your words will either render you justified in Christ or condemned to hell.
Our character is being put to the test all the time. People will know if we are a person of Integrity just by observing our behaviors and listening to our words. Often, the person we see at Church does not give the full picture of who they really are inside. The more we are around a person, the more we see what kind of person they really are. So when trials come in life, how do we respond?
Over the years I’ve seen families in church who look like families who’ve got it all together. They’re so very nice, but later find out they’re struggling in life. They have hurts and pains. I was invited to an evening cookout and one of the families from the church was also invited. The husband came drunk and things started to get ugly fast. Come to find out, this husband was battling alcoholism and had tried several times to quit.
In all honestly I could tell you a lot of stories about teenagers with attitudes and disrespect. In fact, it’s easy to give examples of other people’s downfalls. But instead, ask God to show us where we fall short with our integrity.
I would like to think that I am a person of integrity. Perhaps, generally speaking, I am. But I know I’m far from perfect. I remember an embarrassing moment when I destroyed my testimony. Years ago I yelled at a student at a basketball game, out loud, for “playing dirty.” I mean, I stood up and yelled at this student from the other school so everyone could hear and see me. I’m confident that several people saw me in a different light and drew conclusions that I was not a person of integrity. To top it off, the local newspaper that week did a write-up in the sports section that we must be reminded that as spectators we need to be on our best behavior at home games since we are representing our school.
In reality, as Followers Of Christ, we represent Christ. Let that be our motivation to be people of integrity always. Yes, I did fail but God was gracious and he has rebuilt my good standing with himself and the school. I even apologized to the kid at the next game we played them.
When we learn from our mistakes, we grow and mature. The problem is when we learn but ignore the warning signs and don’t mature. God help us be people of integrity so that we produce good fruit and not bad fruit.
