letters to my son -2

Dearest son,

You have often heard me share about the need of authenticity in our
relationship with our self, with others and with God. Today, while
reading Erwin Mcmanus's " Stand against the Wind', I learned a deeper
and more important aspect about authenticity, i.e. integrity. This is
what he wrote in chapter six...

' INTEGRITY is when the heart of God is joined with the heart of man."

You can't say two different things at the same time and expect to be
trusted. A person of integrity cannot say one thing and do another.
INTEGRITY IS THE CONTEXT FROM WHICH COURAGE IS FORMED.
integrity.like wholeness, is a byproduct of our spiritual
integration." Integrity" comes from the root word 'integer' which
means to be complete, indivisible - in other words, to be whole.

In our culture we have put an increasing value on authenticity and a
decreasing focus on integrity. We have disdain for the pretentious and
we long for anything that is real. But we MUSTN'T ROMANTICIZE
AUTHENTICITY. When calling for authenticity, we need to take seriously
the brokenness of the human heart. If we are not careful, authentic
can be the new word for arrogance. As long as you're true to yourself
how can anyone fault you, right/ AUTHENTICITY CAN ESTABLISH A
SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT JUSTIFIES ABUSE.

if we are committed to being the genuine articles, first we'd better
look closely at what we're made of. AUTHENTICITY WITHOUT INTEGRITY IS
LETHAL.

To be authentic when our hearts are dark is equivalent to opening
Pandora's box. As much as we disdain the external constraints of
society, humanity's best solution without God is to establish laws
that restraint the evil that lurks within us.

To be authentic means literally that we are not false or copied, that
we reflect the original.Our separation from God has made us into
imitations, no longer reflections of the Creator. Although we are born
of a template designed in the image of the Creator God, that template
is broken, and the reproduction flawed. WE RE CLASSIC COUNTERFEITS. We
pass as the real thing. We might even fool ourselves. Yet the evidence
of our inauthenticity can be seen in our departure from the character
of God. The first and most important step in becoming genuinely
authentic is once again to be authenticated by the original designer.
God longs to place within each of us a new heart, that reflects Him in
both action and desire [ Ezekiel 36:26 ]...to be continued.

Well son, I hope that we can continue to journey together in this
quest for integrity.

Daddy with love..missing you a lot.