“The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out.” Proverbs 10:9
Do you know anyone with a big personality? I have several friends whose personalities are larger than life. Everywhere they go people are drawn to them like a magnet. What a gift! I thank God for my friends with big personalities. But even more, knowing them closely, I thank God their integrity is even bigger.
A big personality is a front-stage gift that must be supported by a back-stage integrity. The human condition is such that none are immune to the allures of sin and godlessness. Every one of us is entirely capable of the worst evils we can possibly imagine. Those who are elevated to a platform are no exception. This should give us all pause. We should, in prayerfully humility, be careful whom we raise to levels of popularity and influence, and we should pray for them and encourage them regularly.
Time is the great equalizer. Those whose front-stage presence is not supported with a back-stage integrity will soon be found out. On this subject Paul wrote to young Timothy, “Some people’s sins are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but the sins of others surface later,” (1 Timothy 5:24). A man is headed for disaster when his personality has elevated him to a position or platform his integrity cannot withstand.
- Do you have a big personality? Work diligently to be sure your front-stage presence is supported by a back-stage integrity. Put measures of accountability in place to live above reproach and to remain humble and gracious to everyone.
- Do you know a big personality? Pray for and encourage him or her regularly. Don’t be afraid to privately exhort him or her toward righteousness. On the platform of men, there is no self-sustaining positional immunity to the entanglements of sin.
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Guard the heart. Live with integrity. Let the platforms rise and fall in their time, not the men and women who stand on them.
This article originally appeared here.
