When reading the bible story of
Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, found in Daniel, I have to admit integrity was
not the first value that came to my mind. Faith, trust, courage and love are a
few that did come to mind. Yet, the more
I pondered on integrity, the more I realized I was lacking in my understanding. So like any other person with a BA in English
Literature, I first turned to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and was a little
surprised to find that there were three different definitions for
integrity. I admit I was even more
surprised when I found that all three definitions applied to the bible story I
just referred to. By simply looking up a
definition my view on integrity increased as I have come to see that true
integrity, to ourselves and to our God, encompass all three definitions: 1.
Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. 2. An unimpaired
condition. 3. The quality or state of being complete or undivided.
Firm adherence to a code of moral
values is a dying practice in this day and age and I feel that in all eras of
time there are plagues of selfishness, corruption, and greed. This is seen at an extreme when King
Nebuchadnezzar imposes a law requiring all to worship a golden idol, or be put
to death by fire. However, despite the
promised punishment, three men chose to stick to their moral code which taught
them to worship no one or nothing other than the Lord their God. They made the right choice, as it was the
right thing. To them, it was not
important what man commanded of them, even though they willingly obeyed, up
until the point it threatened their loyalty to themselves and their God. Would
it have served or increased anyone for them to worship with the hordes at the
golden idol? No. So then why risk their integrity to such a spectacle, even if
it meant laying down their lives.
“Bound in their inflammable
clothes, they were consigned to the fiery death which no mere man could
survive, but in the morning the king Nebuchadnezzar himself in astonishment and
awe found four personages in the furnace as he said ‘Lo, I
see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt ;
and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God’ (Daniel 3:25). At the
command of the king, they came forth unburned, unhurt, not even a hair of their
heads singed and no smell of fire on their clothes. INTEGRITY! The promises of
eternal life from God supersede all promises of men to greatness, comfort,
immunities. These men of courage and
integrity were saying: ‘we do not have to live, but we must be true to
ourselves and God’” (Spencer W. Kimball).
By continually holding to our moral code
we know what we are to do and what we expect of ourselves, that when faced with
temptations or trials, we firmly know which choice is the right choice. This is taught often in the bible and put
quite simply in Proverbs 11:3, “The integrity of the upright shall guide
them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”While taught in
the scripture, it was also taught by great men of our age in time when Abraham Lincoln once said, “I am not bound to win, but I am bound
to be true; I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light I
have.” Simply meaning, It is not the outcome of what we accomplish that
determines what we are, rather, we stand for and by the light that burns within
us, that guides us, and that determines the outcome of who and what we are. Although there is argumentation over what is
moral and what is not, most people know for themselves what is right and what
is wrong. The more we fall prey to wrong
choices, the more our morality is corrupted, leading to a numbness and
justification of actions, but if we stand, firm in heart with what we know to
be right, we are living with integrity. And when we stand firm like this, we
can say as Shakespeare did, “There is no terror in your threats: for I am armed
so strong in honesty that they pass by me as the idle wind, which I respect not”
(Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3).
Besides the story of Shadrach
Meshach and Abednego, the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors found in the
Book of Mormon is one that exemplifies being true to a moral code. The parents of these young boys made a pact
with God to never again shed the blood of another again, regretting the wars
and violent lusts from their days past.
Yet, when war was threatened upon them and their neighbors could no
longer protect them, they began considering breaking the pact in order to
defend their families and religion.
However, these astonishing youth instead volunteered to fight in place
of their parents, knowing it was better to offer their lives than risk going
back on their promise with themselves and with their God. This is how they are
described by Helaman in Alma 53:20, “And they were all young men, and they were
exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but
behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever
thing they were entrusted.” And these young men were entrusted with a lot:
their faith, honor, homes, safety, obedience and much more. Yet, living with
and going forth with the Lord in their hearts they were in fact true, through
and through with integrity. And like Shadrach
Meshach and Abednego, all 2,000 youth survived multiple battles despite the fact
that the numbers of enemies faced alone, should have left them all dead. The
more integrity we espouse, the more power we have.
An
unimpaired condition is the second definition of integrity. For me, this definition always seemed to
apply to say a ship after the storm: despite the tempest, the ship retained its
integrity. Yet, when thinking again of our scripture story I hit upon the truth
of this definition when applied to the human heart. What does it mean to have an unimpaired heart
when linked with our relationship to God?
When rolling this question over in my mind the imagery that hung over my
eyes, was that of the Savior on the cross.
It is only through our Lord and Savior that we have the ability to be
made perfect through his atoning sacrifice.
An unimpaired heart is one that
seeks after the Lord. One that espouses
Christ-like love continually and when the mortal heart fails, as it always
will, is yet turned continually to the Lord in repentance. When we sin, we are in fact impaired as we no
longer have His spirit and the Holy Ghost to abide with us as strongly as it
was before we had sinned. Even as
something as mediocre as loosing ones temper and shouting in frustration we
push the spirit of peace from ourselves, leaving us with an impairment. Unimpaired implies perfection, yet we know as
humans we can never be perfect. Through
the loving sacrifice of our Brother, we can in fact achieve this through his intercessory
with the Father, that even in our imperfections, with a heart full of the Lord,
we can in fact be unimpaired through repentance!
As we continue our understanding of
integrity, we look to the third and last definition: The quality or state of
being complete or undivided. Although separate from the second definition, I
fell it expounds upon it. I don’t know
about you, but I sometimes struggle with being undivided. True integrity
suggests this is what it takes: “to be of one heart and one mind” (D&C 45:
65) or as recorded in the bible, “One heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). While we emulate our Lord and Savior out of
reverence, it is done for a greater purpose: to learn how to be Christ-like.
Christ is one with God and if we are to also be like our Father in Heaven, we
do so by emulating his perfect Son as best we can. When our mind and heart are one with God we
can experience true joy, peace, and love.
When our wills are in alignment with what the Lord asks of us, then we
know we are in the right and cannot be in the wrong. “Integrity in man should
bring inner peace, sureness of purpose, and security in action. Lack of integrity brings disunity, fear,
sorrow, unsureness” (Spencer W, Kimball).
It takes the first two definitions of integrity to them get to and perfect
this aspect of it, but what blessings to have inner peace, sureness of purpose,
and security in action. This is what
true integrity gives us. All the examples from scripture given before demonstrate
that, but let me give you one more: “And the Lord
said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth
fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him
without cause” (Job 2:3). Job, bereaved of family, home, health and friends
exhibited true integrity as he never once blamed or denied his God. He stood firm with who he was and the choices
he has made despite the goading of his so-called friends and set an example of
what true integrity is, despite the cost it takes to sometime prove or develop
such a characteristic. As in everything
the Lord does, we are rewarded for such integrity. I feel blessed to have so
many examples to expound upon such an important attribute.
I am aware that we are all along different
paths in our integrity, and like faith, is something that needs to be
continually worked upon, otherwise, as stated earlier, it corrupts and slowly
deteriorates. I know I don’t face every day
with a sureness of purpose. And I
certainly do not always achieve inner peace.
All it means is I have work left to do. So let us look toward these
examples as found in the scriptures, taking a deeper look inside ourselves,
asking: Do I stick to my morals? Am I repentant? And am I undivided?
