Source Of Integrity

Read Psalm 24:1-10
 
".....how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"  Genesis 39:9b
 
Do we live in a culture today that blames their environment for everything they do wrong?  Do you hear the wrong doer, as well as the society around him, excuse his actions and blame his parents, teachers, employer, police, laws, government, etc.? 
 
We don’t choose integrity because it is easy. We choose integrity because we love God and don’t want to hurt Him.  Many would say, Joseph had every reason to shake his fist at heaven and accuse God of abandoning him. His brothers had sold him into slavery, and he was separated from the father he dearly loved.  Joseph's father showed a lack of integrity many times in his life, but don't we seen Joseph paddling his own boat, so to speak, taking on himself his own responsibility. 
 
Therefore, in the midst of his personal tragedy, he chose to see the protective hand of God. He had a deep-settled peace that God was with him and was blessing him–even in this foreign land. That rock-bottom belief that God loved him was the source of his integrity.
For many, temptation comes like an inescapable dilemma. “There was nothing I could do. I was trapped.” But, like Joseph, our firm commitment to love God at all costs must cause us to run from the temptation–even when we are running into personal sacrifice. We look at the temptation, fully aware of the pain we will endure if we run from it. Then, because we love God, we run from sin and into sacrifice.
 
May Christ bless you today, and never forget that you are loved!!!

Henry