Integrity #6—Suffering Integrity

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:3–4. For the joy set before him Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God’s throne. Hebrews 12:2

The Apostle Paul was able to suffer hardship because of his integrity: “I  am single-minded. I forget what is behind and reach out for what lies ahead … I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The promise that attends this singleness of purpose will sustain us through much pain! Judging from the kind of analogies Paul used, this should be common sense. But evidently we all need reminding. Integrity in this sense involves bending every aspect of our lives to attaining the joy set before us. The goal and our strong desire for it motivate us to refuse other opportunities that present themselves and to suffer the consequences of our choice. For example, David Brainerd turned down a prestigious pastorate so he could continue working among the tribes of early 18^th-century America. The prize also motivates us to submit ourselves to certain sometimes difficult behavioral constraints; just as surgeons do when they gown and scrub, or as soldiers do when they don all their battle-rattle before a mission. Such integrity will help us suffer the loss of the merely good, so we can obtain what is truly excellent.

Lord, with Paul, I pray that my love will continue to grow in real knowledge and discernment, so that I may approve what is ultimately excellent, and thus be sincere and blameless until the end.