At The End of the Day

I recently attended a dinner and was seated at a table with people that I am close to. The wife of one of the couples greeted me, and we began talking. As our conversation continued, I realized that the husband had not spoken to me or even looked up to acknowledge that I was there.

After about 5 minutes I became a little annoyed at his rude behavior so I decided that I would do the right thing and say hello first. After greeting him three times without a response he looked at me and in somewhat of a bothered tone said, What?! I repeated my overly polite greeting two more times and each were met with the same snotty response, WHAT?! At that point I shook my head as his wife looked at him in disgust and blurted, Oh, you are in trouble!

The sad part of this exchange was that all who were seated at the table witnessed the interaction. Dinner continued, and everyone engaged in conversation except him. Eventually, due to the discomfort of his presence and perhaps embarrassment of his actions, he rose from his chair and left the table.

When I returned home I began to process what had happened. I wanted to make sure I hadnt said anything that would offend him or cause a problem and, as far as I could assess, that was not the case. The longer I pondered the situation the more it hurt that someone I considered to be a friend would treat me so disdainfully even though I did nothing but act friendly.

It brought to mind what the Bible says in Psalms 15:1-3,5, Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? V.2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart v.3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, v.5b He who does these things will never be shaken.

In v.2 the word blameless is also translated integrity which awakens us to realize that when we do the right thing and act the right way, we have integrity. Not to gloat or be prideful, but my heart was settled to know that at the end of that day, even though I was upset, I walked away with my integrity.

No matter what happens to us as Christians we must always walk in integrity and therefore walk blameless before God. Verse 5 says that we will never be shaken. This confirms that when act the right way and do the right thing no one can accurately point their finger at us and say we are wrong.

So I leave you with this encouragement. Through every trying situation, remember that when youve done whats right,At the end of the day, youll always have your integrity.

Integrity Makes Character
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Written by Rhonda Ihrig