The greatest paradox of a life lived in Christ is the fact that salvation in Him is free, but to live for Him will cost everything. In my years walking with Christ, I have come to understand that integrity will never come without a price God calls us to pay.
If there's anyone who exemplified integrity best to me, it's my father. A month back, we discovered that a few compliances for the family business had been missed out on and resulted in a hefty penalty. Talking to our accountant, we were offered options on the spot to get around the penalty, but I will never forget what my dad said: "That's not the way we do things. Let us hurt if we have to, but let's do this right."
What is the true cost to integrity? Ultimately, everything. Mark 8:34 says, "And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (ESV).
Often, integrity will be more costly than it will be rewarding, and it seems like the unnatural and unprofitable thing to do. How could God want something as painful as collateral damage brought by integrity upon us? Truth is, He doesn't, but because of the brokenness of this world and the sin that plagues our society, integrity has now been turned into a liability.
That's why Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and take up our crosses. During those days, for someone to carry a cross was one hundred percent assurance that that person was a dead man walking. God calls us to be like dead men walking.
The interesting thing about dead men walking is that they have nothing left to lose. On their way to death row, they weren't thinking of their reputation, of their bank accounts, of their house mortgage, or even of their next meal! That's what God calls us into as we follow Christ. When we surrender to Jesus and make Him the sole desire for everything, though we don't die, our thoughts and desire for reputation, pride, immoral satisfaction and any earthly thing goes out the window.
Not that God doesn't bless us, but all of a sudden we just have no desire for it! All we will desire is to please and serve the Lord who hung on a cross for us. Romans 8:13 tells us, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (ESV). We no longer live according to the casualties we face if we live lives of integrity, but now live to please an audience of one—our true Master.
Integrity will always come at a hefty price, and we must get ready to lose our desire for everything. But as that happens, God increases us more as we gain in death to things of this world and live now in Christ.
