Most people go throughout their entire lives pretending. It’s just what we do. One of the biggest fears that people face is the fear of rejection. There is a deeply held belief that if people really knew us, they wouldn’t like us. This thought drives us to conceal the majority of who we are. The challenge with this is that pretending is takes a lot of time and energy. It also generally doesn’t work out that well for us. I’m working through Proverbs and Proverbs 10:9 says…

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

Integrity means being the same on the inside as on the outside. I once heard Erwin McManus, a great speaker and author, talk about this. He threw some bananas out into the crowd and had people open them. The point of the illustration is that if you open a banana peal, you can expect to find a banana inside. He was saying that God’s creation has integrity. No one has ever opened a banana peal to find an apple inside. This should tell us something about our Creator and what he wants for us.

This proverb is saying that if we want to live secure and confident lives, we must strive for integrity. We must resist the cultural trend to live duplicitous lives and work at telling the truth. This type of living does not always win you favor. Sometimes it may cost you friendships and promotions at work, but it is worth it. One way or another our deception will find us out. If not in this life, then surely in the life to come. Integrity isn’t about one decision but about multiple decisions every single day. Will you choose honesty today? Will you choose integrity? What does that look like for you?