We live in a world where we are faced with conflicting desires either we are spiritual or not, where we all struggle daily with situations that is calling for decisions between what we want to do and what we ought to do, where we are faced with different kinds of battles of the minds but in all of these, who we are will define the outcome, which is integrity.
Integrity is the most valuable ingredient for effective leadership though in our today world, it is speedily vanishing and is making leaders run like a man that beats the air, aimless in their thoughts and decisions yet we are not aware since our actions, decisions, practices and lifestyle fell well with the community and world standard and negate God’s standard for mankind.
What is integrity? Integrity is a state of being complete in character, unified and undefiled. It is a personal principle or standard drawn from deep thought after careful observation of the society, back ground and spiritual affiliation. It is a collection of values that regulate our lives and judge our actions. Integrity is not in what we do or say but who we are.
Who is a leader? A leader is every man born of God while an effective leader is a regenerated man. This means an effective leader is a man who has personal standard or principles that regulate his/her life and judge their actions having in mind the authority they under. Friends, any leader without personal standard cannot be trusted as we have in the corridor of power in our nation and the nations of the world. For example, we see leaders without personal standard sacrificing everything around them for pursuit of fame, pleasure, power, influence and authority unknown to them that anything that is not built on the solid foundation called integrity will crumble. We must understand and let everyone around us know any leader whose leadership is not based on integrity will end up in public disgrace, shame, pain and regret as we can see all around today.
Friends, look through your window, if you can see a credible man, or look round your network to find one even look at your mirror, can you vouch for the man you see that is credible? Let start with ourselves, am I a man of integrity? Which part of my life is complete, if my real self and life style is made public, would it finish my entire future completely? Lets run an acid test if we have integrity. Take a moment and think deep, what am I capable of doing if I have opportunity? This will help us to make a resolution and set standard for our lives and a pattern our lives will run.
Remember, integrity is not in what we do but who we are because it is who we are that determines what we do or say. We don’t compromise because we are tempted, compromise is simply taking advantage of the opportunity you long for in your subconscious, it is what you truly want since you don’t have a standard. To be a man of integrity is to be a man with principles that govern his life, actions, reactions and lifestyle. This also helps us to establish our priorities to know what we accept and reject.
BENEFITS OF HAVING INTEGRITY.
• It will create and sustain spirit of contentment in us.
• It will not allow us to settle for mediocrity
• It will keep our lips not to violate our heart
• It will keep us from being led from the head but by the spirit of God
• It will determine how happy and joyful we can ever be.
• It will determine how free and blameless we will ever be it will determine how long we can stay relevant. Note: charisma can take you up but integrity will determine how long you can stay at the top.
In conclusion, a man of integrity is consistent because what he says and what he does is the same. This is a big proof that our elders in Nigeria who are complaining and criticizing our generation of lowering standard in all sectors in our great nation are responsible because every values they met on ground and enjoyed, the same they have destroyed by placing more value on things that are temporary. I am urging this generation to look inward and develop their good value using the injuction of God so that the generation coming behind will have good thing s to inherit. I came across this information and I think it is true: 89% of what we do come through visual stimulation, 10% of what we do come from audio stimulation and 1% come through senses. We must be conscious of those following us, let them see consistence in what we say and do because human beings are wired to understand and believe what they see especially those things that are consistent. Thank you and God bless .
