Integrity

Our lives are complicated, and many demands divide our hearts. This is the essence of the integrity problem. We are people with divided hearts.

A large portion of our hearts is dedicated to being successful at work and in our relationships. Other parts are devoted to dreams for the future and hurts of the past. Still another part is devoted to Jesus Christ. We would love to give him more, but we must confront the fact that there are few compartments left over.

Each compartment has different set of rules, and we conduct ourselves differently at different times depending on which part of the heart we are satisfying. This is why outwardly moral people do immoral things in private. This is also why we think we need to be aggressive in the workplace but loving and tender at home or at church. And this is why we live with secrets we hope will never come to light.

Moving from one compartment of life to another, we enter different worlds where we hold different identities, each wanting to grow and hold sway over our hearts. After a while our hearts tear apart because of the competition, and the walls that divide the compartments starts to leave their families, churches, and the faith, saying “I can’t keep living a lie,” The problem is, they’re lying to themselves if they think they can heal their hearts on their own.

The message of the gospel is that a divided heart can be repaired, though not by ourselves. When we confront that the truth, we discover the deeper  truth of God’s power that transforms every part of the heart, the power that breaks down those competing little worlds and unites our souls in the integrity of serving our Savior.