A Pastor's Perspective 08-09-2024

Sometimes things get edited out of a message which I really want to leave in, fortunately I have the opportunity to write an article and provide a little “add-on” to Sunday’s message. This is one of those “add-ons”.

Inner Integrity
It had to do with Inner Integrity, and is something a wise, older mother figure once told me her dad would often say, "You can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats the people he thinks cannot fight back." Integrity itself is revealed in how we treat the people we think cannot fight back. Those savvy business people in Jerusalem thought nothing of taking advantage of the disadvantaged to create more advantage for themselves (Nehemiah 5).

There have been moments in my ministry when I have backed off from asking someone to lead out in ministry because of the way that person talked down to someone or simply talked about someone. The strong do not have to make someone less to make themselves powerful. As followers of Jesus, this should be most true of us. "He emptied himself, making himself nothing” (Philippians 2:5-8)

We are to be different. Not talking down, but bringing up. The beautiful thing about bringing others up is that not only do they feel better, but we become better ourselves. I once heard someone say, “No man ever stands so high as when he stoops to help someone.” By the grace of God and the power of His spirit, let us be those people. Not only do the people we stoop to help become better, but we have nothing to hide—integrity intact and growing stronger.  

We covered a lot of content yesterday and in this series, but praying and pulling these InfluenceR traits into our lives will make the content matter. Actually, whenever we apply the scripture to our lives, we get better, the people around us get better, and the place we live gets better. May we continue to pray these traits of a Good InfluenceR into our lives for the glory of God and the good of our families, Fayetteville, and ourselves.

Looking forward,
Blake