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Scripture

Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
for he knows my integrity. Job 31:6

Observation
Job had personal integrity list. He had thought in advance of pitfalls that could swallow him up and had planned in advance to avoid them. Job knew how he would respond before he even came to the point of decision because he had predetermined decisions already made. Those are convictions. From Job 31, here is his personal integrity list from Job 31:

1. Do not look with lust on a young woman or be in a place of enticement to lust after another man’s wife.
2. Treat employees fairly as equals in origin and your status as responsibility toward them.
3. Extend the eves of your house to cover widows and orphans.
4. Have a home open to those who need love, a meal or a bed.
5. Do not become excited by what money can buy or discouraged by scarcity instead trust God as your provider.
6. Never gloat when God disciplines those who have hurt you, or it may be your turn next!
7. Be uncomfortable with unconfessed sin and open it quickly to the Lord.

These are not the words of a pastor but of a business man. Personal integrity is something that matters to all of us for one reason: God is watching. As Job said,

Doesn’t [God] see everything I do and every step I take? (Job 31:4)

All of life is an examination of our lives by the Lord. He watches everything that we do. The perks we enjoy in life are not given to us to cause us to forget our responsibility. Instead, one day, every fringe benefit of life will be taken away from us and only our integrity will hold us together. We are not given cars, homes, money, investments, businesses, employees, opportunities and so on to distance ourselves from human need or to elevate ourselves over others. All of these things are given to us because we are responsible to make a difference. One day God will take everything back and quiz us on what we did with his resources.

The only way to pass that exam is to have personal integrity. Job thought in advance of what mattered most to God about his daily life and how he would respond in a way that would please the Lord. What matters to God is often very different from what matters to us. God values faithfulness in relationships because he is faithful. God values the care of those who are weaker because he is a Saviour. God values transparency because he hates hypocrisy. Job thought through these and other things and formed his whole life around what matters to God.

Integrity is not a way to please God to be accepted by him. Instead, God is pleased with us because of Christ and therefore we live to please him as an act of love toward him.

Integrity, as Job learned, does not guarantee prosperity and success. Just because a person has standards does not mean that he will be exempt from hardships. But what Job did learn is that when all is stripped away it is our integrity that will hold us together.

Application
Job’s list is probing. It would serve any business person or pastor well. We just need to think through the specifics of each point:

1. Use accountability software, have an accountability partner, be honest with yourself, a man should not counsel women, have a window in the office door, never give a woman a ride alone in a car or visit the home of a woman alone.
2. Do not brush aside requests from staff for equipment, pay rises, working conditions, personal need or relationship disputes, rather consider each fairly.
3. Look after single mothers and particularly the children from one parent homes.
4. Look for those standing alone after church and those new to the community.
5. Give generously, don’t accept money that violates principles.
6. Pray for your enemies, especially when life is difficult for them and help them.
7. Have an accountability partner who knows all and can ask, “Are you lying?”

Prayer
Father, as the responsibilities of life increase let my personal integrity grow with them. Amen.