Tuesday - Integrity

Nehemiah 5:14 – “Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.”

Psalm 26:1 – "Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide."

Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. Here is a man who did the right thing for twelve years — and he could have done otherwise, and no one would have ever known. As governor he had rights. He had privileges. He had every legal right to live off the people, and not a soul would have blamed him for it.

But integrity is not measured by the people around you. It is measured by the God above you. Nehemiah's honesty didn't come from a crowd keeping an eye on him; it came from the God he answered to.

You may never be a governor. You may never lead a city or build a wall. But every one of us has that moment where nobody is watching — the corner you could cut at work, the numbers you could fudge, the thing you could do on your phone in the dark where no one would ever know.

And in that moment the question is not, "Will anyone see?"

 The question is, "Do I fear God?"

The man who fears God doesn't need a crowd to keep him honest. He does right when it's seen and when it's hidden, when it helps him and when it costs him.