Proverbs 20 (Susan)
Prov. 20:7 The just man walks in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Prov. 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
As a child I learned to recite this verse (Prov. 22:6). It stuck with me and would run though my mind from time to time and more often after my son was born, and now even more so as I watch my grandchildren grow.
Children expect us to know what is good, right and just, to be accountable, and to conduct ourselves as responsible adults. They learn by what they see more than what we tell them. The old saying ‘do as I say not as I do’ does not work; they learn from watching us. If we have shady dealing guess who will grow up that way. The apple does not fall too far from the tree. They are listening even when we don’t think so.
If we teach our children integrity, personal honesty, and to ‘walk in the way they should go’ - when no one is looking - they will surely be accountable to God and to themselves when they are older. It still boggles my mind how I feel when there is paper on the floor and I am tempted to walk right by. I begin to feel that sense of responsibility to pick it up and if I am in a hurry I may grumble to myself, but still I have to pick it up. When we instill integrity in children they can’t help but live it when they are older. Integrity becomes their core value and governs their lives. Teach your children integrity, responsibility and accountability for their sake and when they are old they will live it.
Prov. 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them…
1 Chron. 29:17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.
Job cared much about his integrity and righteousness because he made the effort to do that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and it was who he was. He knew this pleased God greatly. Job 6:29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
Psalm 25:21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You.
Integrity, the short definition is personal honesty - in everything. But the long version is from Wikipedia:
Integrity is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key determining factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything one does and believes is based on the same core set of values… it is their consistency with each other and with the person's actions that determine the person's integrity. The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility in that implementation spawning from principles is designed with a specific outcome in mind. Accountability is achieved when a faulty principle is identified and changed to produce a more useful action.
The just man walks in his integrity: his children are blessed after him. Prov. 20:7 My mother was a Christian and I am blessed to have watched her example of ‘the way I should go’. That along with God’s word, caused me to grow and to train my child. He will train my grandchildren, as he too watched my mother and me. What a huge responsibility I have to these children.
All my words I have written in this book, are for the making of adults with the understanding that God is good and His mercy is accountable and great. I will not let you down, you who trust in the Lord. All my understanding is available to those who would ask of me. The righteous man need never have lack.
