Living a Life of Integrity
Integrity.
It can be defined as having an adherence to moral and ethical principles; having soundness of moral character, honesty.
But it can also be defined as the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
In recent months, I have felt an urging...a prompting...to live my faith life with greater integrity. To allow those on the outside to see (or should I say, read if in blogland) what I am thinking, feeling, living on the inside of these four walls we call our home.
For me, my faith in God has always been front and center in my life...but always in my private life. I have become quite adept at compartmentalizing my faith. Not necessarily relegating it only to Sundays (goodness, no!), but not quite allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me, either.
Now, I am feeling that I am called to live out my faith through my daily life...
...with how we speak to one another inside our home (and out),
...with how we educate our children in this family,
...with how we celebrate and honor God's natural goodness,
...with how we care and maintain those gifts He has given us,
...with how and what I choose to share on this blog.
I no longer wish to live my faith life separated from the rest of my life.
I wish to live a life of integrity...
...being whole, entire, and undiminished.
Recently, I saw this quote on Pinterest, and it gave me pause to consider...
Regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof, do you live a life of integrity? Do you feel whole, entire, or undiminished? Could Christ...or your grandmother...listen in to your daily conversations between you and your children...drop in on a moment's notice at your house without feeling ashamed by (ahem) total chaos...pull up a chair at dinner time? Would there be a dinner time???
For me, it is a bold and courageous direction to travel...working towards a deeper and more authentic family life.
After all, our God is a God of Relationship.
Shouldn't we strive to be more Christ-like in all we say and do?
It can be defined as having an adherence to moral and ethical principles; having soundness of moral character, honesty.
But it can also be defined as the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.
In recent months, I have felt an urging...a prompting...to live my faith life with greater integrity. To allow those on the outside to see (or should I say, read if in blogland) what I am thinking, feeling, living on the inside of these four walls we call our home.
For me, my faith in God has always been front and center in my life...but always in my private life. I have become quite adept at compartmentalizing my faith. Not necessarily relegating it only to Sundays (goodness, no!), but not quite allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me, either.
Now, I am feeling that I am called to live out my faith through my daily life...
...with how we speak to one another inside our home (and out),
...with how we educate our children in this family,
...with how we celebrate and honor God's natural goodness,
...with how we care and maintain those gifts He has given us,
...with how and what I choose to share on this blog.
I no longer wish to live my faith life separated from the rest of my life.
I wish to live a life of integrity...
...being whole, entire, and undiminished.
Recently, I saw this quote on Pinterest, and it gave me pause to consider...
Regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof, do you live a life of integrity? Do you feel whole, entire, or undiminished? Could Christ...or your grandmother...listen in to your daily conversations between you and your children...drop in on a moment's notice at your house without feeling ashamed by (ahem) total chaos...pull up a chair at dinner time? Would there be a dinner time???
For me, it is a bold and courageous direction to travel...working towards a deeper and more authentic family life.
After all, our God is a God of Relationship.
Shouldn't we strive to be more Christ-like in all we say and do?
Living out our faith in all we do can be such a daunting task. It can mean leaving our comfort zones, opening ourselves up to ridicule, and risking offending others who do not believe as we do. But, though it is so hard at times, and I myself fail at times, it is exactly what Jesus calls us to. And like the Gospel reading this past weekend says, "He is the one with the words of eternal life" if we do not stay with Him, where can we turn instead?
ReplyDeleteThis was an awesome post, very thought-provoking, and maybe a little condemning- but in a really good way- reminding me of what I need to strive for each and every day! :)
God Bless, Kari
Great post! Kari's words are alos true.
ReplyDeleteA Fall get together sounds great!\
M :)
so so true, val. I love this post. it's full of prompting for me, and probably all moms who read your blog. Do we live our divine friendship with Christ? That's what I'm working on answering in the postive! thanks for sharing; whether we live our faith is as important as our faith itself.
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