In my former life, I was a teacher. My longest running placement was with 5th graders, and I loved it. I told the kids the most important character trait they could develop was integrity. Integrity is doing right even when you think no one is looking. It’s sticking to your values regardless of what those around you are doing. James was speaking of integrity when he wrote this reminder. Jesus definitely set the example of integrity. He advised people to be either hot or cold, because He would spit the lukewarm out of His mouth. A lot of people try to straddle fences—to be one way with this crowd of people and that way with another so they feel like they “fit in.” It doesn’t work if we claim Christianity. God sets our values, and God expects us to honor those values. If we follow Jesus’s example of integrity, we will never face God’s condemnation.
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