Integrity: Growing a Spine... or maybe a stem?

 At my job I try to teach the children the implications of the word integrity.  To me integrity equates to steadfastness. It is the ability to stand upright even when things or people are trying to pull you down.  It means taking a stance and holding it when people are looking after you and when they aren't.  It means making a plan and sticking to it.  It means taking on responsibility without losing a sense of self.  Integrity means making decisions based on what you know is right and wrong with the intent to do what is right.  It transcends culture or title, and it shows itself.  Integrity doesn't cower or hide.  Integrity stands tall, but not in an arrogant way as if to exalt itself.  Integrity can simply mean saying no to a night on the town before a big test or staying up to finish some dishes.  Integrity can mean going to the park with my son instead of staying on Facebook all day.  It could mean taking care of yourself before trying to take care of anyone else.  Integrity nourishes growth and maturity.  Integrity blossoms greatness in all of us.  Integrity is stretching ourselves out for measuring rather than crouching and cowering in an attempt to avoid the truth. The truth is that God set the standard a long time ago, and none of us measure up on our own.

  I believe true integrity means being everything that God has created us to be, standing tall and confident in who we are in Christ.  This is not to be confused with arrogance which is to lift up our own names, but confidently lifting the name of Jesus Christ which makes us able to stand at all.  For we know that our salvation and righteousness is through him.  True integrity lifts the name of Jesus.  I don't want to be any less, or let anyone else degrade me to anything less, than who Jesus died so that I could be.  That to me is the measuring stick that I stretch to measure up to.  This is what I am pressing for.  I just want to measure up to how God sees me.  I can only do that with the help of Christ.  Sometimes holding up a standard means saying "no" to things that seem harmless or even helpful in some ways.  Balance is something that God wants for his people, and it represents a form of structural integrity or steadfastness. This is something worth saying "no" for. I not only hold up the standard to myself but also to anything that wants a place in my life.  I should not let other people take ownership of any area of my life other than God himself. I have had to learn that saying "no" is not a lack of integrity or responsibility, as I used to believe,  when it is a matter of managing my time, family, and health. Integrity applies to every area of my life. I see waste ,for example, as a lack of integrity for me. I really have to strive for balance in my life because God created us to last forever, not to burn out at 15, 21, 25, 33, 40, 52,61, 74 or any other age.  We were created to last and not to break under pressure.