Think fast. Salvation aside, if you were to lose everything you own – visible and invisible – what would be the most costly to replace? Your house? Your land? Your health? Your friendships? Your family? Your valuable antiques?
Tough question, isn’t it? But it’s an important one. After all, we spend a great deal of time and money protecting ourselves against possible losses. That’s what the insurance industry is all about. And just as insurance underwriters have a system for determining “replacement value,” we also need a clear sense of what is most valuable. The Bible gives us some direction for that in Proverbs 22:1:
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
Loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
Your most irreplaceable possession cannot be bought or sold. It isn’t a commodity – like family or health – that can be earned or borrowed. Your most precious possession is your integrity. Your good name!
I can hear some of your brains now. “Oh, THAT! Yeah, I guess so.”
But think about it. What was the one thing that Job wasn’t forced to part with? His integrity. He lost all his possessions, all his family but his wife, and he even lost his confidence in God for a time. But he maintained his integrity, even when his wife (“Curse God and die!”) and “friends” tried to take it away. When God found a man who wouldn’t part with his good name, it was nothing to replace his family and possessions.
Your integrity is always on the line. In your promises to your loved ones, the payment of your bills, the truthfulness of your words, your faithfulness with other people’s money, and a host of other areas, you display character or a con. You are either integrated or fragmented; either consistent or contradictory.
If you want to see just how devastating the loss of integrity is, let me remind you of another story. Remember the Boy Who Cried, “Wolf”? When the wolf finally came, no one believed the him.
Imagine his desperation as he tried to convince them. “No, THIS time I mean it!”
“Yeah, sure. Just like last time.” Down goes another sheep!
“No,” the boy said. “This time he REALLY IS here!”
But no one would listen, and the sheep were destroyed. When you lose your good name, the damage may be much greater than the loss of a few sheep.
Losing your integrity means you can’t lie, steal, cheat or be a hypocrite and get away with it any more. But the price is much greater than that. It also means no one will believe you when you’re telling the truth. If they can’t believe what you say about some things, why should they believe what you say about Jesus? And if your walk doesn’t match your talk, they’ll believe the walk every time.
