Today’s Readings:
Jeremiah 23:5-8
Psalm 72:1-2,12-13,18-19
Matthew 1:18-24
It gives me concern that most people today believe that they will be okay if they control a lot of money. Money will afford you luxury and comfort. It will buy you praise singers and sycophants. That is where it ends. If that is all you crave in life, then you will be fine. There is more to life than eating, drinking, and praise-singing. Some things will outlive money. I do not rate anyone who has money without morality, popular without purpose, and worse of all, intelligent but lacking in integrity.
Integrity means "honesty or trustworthiness". Such a person has the quality of being virtuous (free from sin of any kind). They have wholeness of character; you cannot fault them because they take themselves seriously. Isaiah prophesied that a time will come when God will raise a person of integrity from the house of David. This person’s life will start a new page in human history and replace old wonders with new testimonies. This came to pass in a couple named Joseph and Mary. Joseph and Mary were just regular people who were promised to each other in marriage. The times were different. Families were more involved in the marriage process and they ensured that their children kept themselves until they were united to their spouse. Family involvement ensured integrity (that word again!) and transparency in the marriage process. It also ensured that the couple themselves treated each other with respect. Because I know my future wife is keeping herself for me, I too will keep myself for her because I respect her and vice versa. This sounds childish to a generation that has lost its innocence to repeated servings from the breakfast table of heartbreaks, dishonesty, and doing too much too soon.
When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, he did not scream, “Pregnant? The apostle will hear of this!” He still had respect for her. In respect, he wanted to call off the marriage quietly. A person of integrity will always hold others in high regard. Only an uncultured person broadcasts the faults and failings of others. When Joseph received God’s word about Mary’s pregnancy and the baby’s mission, he received her with the same respect he had always had for her. These two persons of integrity became parents to the promised Messiah who has come to restore the world to God.
Do you have integrity?
Your integrity will speak for you in times of trouble and stand for you in your absence.
A powerful person without integrity is nothing but a common thief.
A poor person with a good name has nothing to fear.
Once lost, integrity is hard to regain.
Lack of integrity is the reason your spouse does not know the password to your phone.
Lack of integrity is also the reason you sleep with one eye open for fear that your deeds in the dark will come to light.
Integrity places you on a level beyond the reach of money or power.
May God help us to be trustworthy, so that we can command the respect we deserve. A blessed new week to you.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
Prayer:
Dear Lord, teach me contentment and the value of self-respect, in Jesus' name.
Help me by your grace, to work hard for the life I desire, to speak words of blessings, and live an exemplary life, in Jesus' name.
May God grant me the grace and strength to build the life I have always dreamt of and the wisdom to know that a good name is better than silver and gold, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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