When was the last time you heard the word honor in a conversation? R.C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries, says, “Today the word honor has all but disappeared from the English language. Virtually the only time I see the word in print is on bumper stickers that declare a child who is on the Honor Roll.”¹ Webster’s Dictionary lists honor as the chief synonym for integrity and defines integrity as “uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of character or honesty.”² Why has the expression, “He is an honorable man (or woman),” become almost extinct? Because moral and ethical compromises have become an accepted, and often esteemed, practice in today’s culture.

Recently on the evening news, I watched the story unfold of a mother and daughter who had put down a large sum of money to reserve a home for rent in another state. Their appointed moving date arrived and they brought their belongs to their secured rental home, only to find several other families waiting for the same house. Unknowingly, they had all paid approximately the same amount of money to reserve the same home. Thankfully, the police arrested the man responsible for this dishonest incident, brought him to the home and handcuffed him in front of the angry onlookers.

Another example in today’s culture of lack of integrity is people who are caught embezzling. In the past few months, we have learned of two church employees who were caught embezzling substantial amounts of money from the churches where they worked. Recent newspaper headlines highlighted top corporate executives who were sent to prison for using company funds to pay for their luxurious homes, cars, vacations and other personal items.

Of course, lack of integrity, honor and trustworthiness is never glorifying to God. Proverbs 6:16-19 says,

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to run into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Scripture also says, “The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight” and “differing weights and differing measures—the Lord detests them both” (Proverbs 20:10, 11:1). These verses emphasize that honesty and fair dealings with others are basic to covenant ethics, and double standards, one true and one false, is an abomination to God (See also Deuteronomy 25:13-16).³

Thankfully, there are still men and women in our culture today who hold fast to integrity. Dr. James Kennedy, who passed away recently, stood up for conservative Christian values for forty years. At his funeral, he was said to be “a man of great vision, great faith and great integrity.” Billy Graham has also shown integrity in fifty plus years of ministry. There has never been a scandal to bring dishonor to Christ in either Kennedy or Graham’s ministry. Ruth Graham, Elisabeth Elliot, Joni Eareckson Tada, President Bush and Ravi Zacharias are also men and women of strong Christian integrity.

How can we become Christian women who are trustworthy in thought, word and deed? We must first begin with prayer and a study of the Scriptures. In Proverbs 31, the husband of the virtuous woman can live with perfect confidence because his wife is trustworthy and dependable. She is described as having noble character, and because of this, she is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10). Her husband’s heart can be at perfect peace where the affairs of his household are concerned. Martin Luther said, “The greatest gift of God is a pious, amiable spouse, who fears God, loves His house, and with whom one can live in perfect confidence.”⁴

Three beautiful inner qualities that the virtuous woman possessed, and that we should strive for as Christian women, are dependability, honesty and contentment. Rarely do we find a person in our culture today that we can always depend upon. All of us know people who say they are going to do something and then they don’t do it. They don’t stand behind their word, a sin which all of us are guilty of at one time or another. Part of integrity and honesty is being faithful and dependable in all circumstances, little and big. Others should be able to trust us, with utmost confidence, to perform satisfactorily and to the very best of our God-given abilities.⁵

We should also strive to be completely honest with ourselves, with God and in all of our dealings with others, including our husbands. Do we show our husbands our purchases, or do we hide them so he won’t know how much money we spent? Do we stay within the budget or do we overspend? We must strive to live consistently with what we believe and carefully scrutinize all of our attitudes and actions to determine if we are being honest.⁶ Deceitfulness is abhorrent to God (Psalm 5:6).

Being content means being satisfied with what the Lord has given us and remembering that He gives each of us so much more than we deserve. In I Timothy 6:6, Paul says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Putting this verse into practice in our marriages can eliminate lots of heartache. I mentioned earlier that several CEOs and business executives have recently been sent to prison for embezzling company funds. Have you ever wondered what kind of wives they had? Perhaps their wives drove them to steal more money from their companies because they weren’t grateful or content with what they possessed materially.⁷ With the Holy Spirit’s help, we must battle the sin of covetousness and learn to be content, as Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

In conclusion, as Christian women, we should beg God for a noble and good heart (Luke 8:15). Why? The answer is found in God Himself who is utterly trustworthy, and we are to reflect His character to the dying and sinful world around us. We must recognize that our natural hearts are black with sin and very deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). Then, we must pray as David did in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

¹R.C. Sproul, “Duty and Honor”, Tabletalk Magazine, September 2007.
²Ibid., p. 6.
³New Geneva Study Bible (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), p. 943. ⁴Emalyn Spencer, A Woman That Feareth The Lord (Lawrenceville, Georgia: Christian Ed. & Pub. 1976), p. 15.
⁵Ibid.
⁶Ibid., p. 16.
⁷Ibid., p. 17.

Copyright © by Tammi Rhoney Share

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