HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
THE KEY TO INTEGRITY
GOD HIMSELF ACTS WITH INTEGRITY TOWARD HIS PEOPLE
I see this in the fact that Joseph asked Potiphar’s wife, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” How could He do such a thing against such a God as He?—especially considering how gracious God had been to him so far; and how great a promise keeper He would yet prove to be! And I believe that motivation was at work in Joseph’s life, and kept him from being unfaithful to the God who had been so wonderfully faithful to him.
God had allowed Joseph to be taken far from his home, and into slavery in Egypt. He had become the servant of a foreign master. But do you remember how the Scriptures said,
“And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” (Genesis 39:2);
“And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.” (Genesis 39:33).
Then, He allowed Joseph to be thrown innocently into prison; but even there, we read that “the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (verse 21); and that “whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (verse 23). I believe that the reason Joseph wanted to live faithfully to God in every area of life was that God had proven so faithful to Him. His integrity before God was a response of love to God’s love for him.
Jesus Himself modelled this for us in His own life. He said;
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:9-10).
Joseph understood that God knows everything there is to know about us, entrusts everything we have to us, and Himself acts with consistently faithful love toward us. And his deep knowledge of these things was the key to his life of integrity. They were what led him to say—at a time of great testing—”How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
May God so sink these truths about Himself into us over the coming year that we ourselves—like Joseph—live with integrity in the sight of God and men.
