M. Stoyko — Australia

hen Adam and Eve came forth from the hand of the Creator they were perfect in every detail. God ordained that man should possess the pure noble character qualities of his Maker. These character traits were divine—for man was "made in the image of God" (Genesis 1:26, 27). He was created a free moral agent. Man could have been created as a robot; but in God’s great love and mercy, this crowning act of His handiwork was endowed with the power of choice.

"To man, as being endowed with reasoning powers and conscience, God’s moral law is given to control his actions. Man is not compelled to obey. He may defy God’s law, as did Adam, and take the fearful consequences; or by living in harmony with that law he may reap the rewards of obedience." 1

Honesty

Strict honesty is required in every transaction of life. "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). Honesty is a very rare jewel which is within the reach of all. In order to possess it we must come to Christ and learn of Him. Without Him we are unable to attain honesty in thought and action.

Honesty to be practiced and taught

It is often said that we must practice what we preach. Our lives are a constant example to those around us, for good or for evil. Our influence is a responsibility from which we cannot be freed. One of the greatest witnesses to a sinful world is the noble life of God’s children. God is dishonored by falsehood and dishonesty, which give others a reason to question Him and His Word.

God wants His children to be strictly honest. Our love for God should be the motive for obedience. Every day our actions and words are being recorded, and one day we will have to render an account to the great Judge of all mankind. God knows all our thoughts; we cannot cover a single act of injustice from Him. By our thoughts, words and actions we will be justified or condemned.

The foremost responsibility of instilling honesty in a child rests with the parents. The Lord will ask all parents, ". . . where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" (Jeremiah 13:20). Therefore it is imperative that parents train their children in right lines. We should realize the power of the parents’ example. The servant of the Lord writes:

"It is essential that honesty be practiced in all the details of the mother’s life, and it is important in the training of children to teach the youthful girls as well as boys never to prevaricate or to deceive in the least." 2

We cannot teach children lessons of honesty and integrity when we ourselves have not surrendered our lives to God and are not learning from Him daily. Therefore the importance of our connection with Christ cannot be underestimated

Formation of character

Actions repeated form habits, which in turn form character. Little acts of honesty and integrity repeated will become habits. These correct habits will form a beautiful character, and our character will decide our destiny for time and eternity.

Since our character is the only thing we are able to take to heaven, we must realize the importance that should be given to its proper development from infancy. Children should be taught to love, obey and fear God from babyhood. It is in their early years that their characters are being formed and what they learn in the first few years of their lives will be hard to efface. The Bible says: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

Honesty toward God and man

"Those who realize their dependence upon God will feel that they must be honest with their fellow men, and, above all, they must be honest with God, from whom come all the blessings of life. The evasion of the positive commands of God concerning tithes and offerings is registered in the books of heaven as robbery toward Him." 3

Let us consider the words of God: "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts" (Malachi 3:6–12).

With the psalmist, we can ask the question, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?" (Psalm 116:12). How can we show our gratitude for what the Lord has done? Every morning the sun rises to gladden another day. Our tables are filled with the bounties of the earth. We appreciate the constant blessing of health and strength. All heaven is poured out for our salvation. Who can place a value on these blessings? Shall we leave these mercies unacknowledged? No. Let us say with David, "I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people" (Psalm 116:14).

How often we grudgingly pay our meager portion and think that we have done our duty. God has paid the price for all, and if we would be honest, we would recognize that we must give our all for use in His service.

"Let us each bring our souls to task. Let us see if we have brought all our offerings to God. I would do this for myself as an individual. It may be that I have been remiss during the past year. I know not when or where, but to make sure that I have done my whole duty, I will at the first of the year bring an offering to God to be appropriated as may seem best, to some one of the branches of his work. If any of you, my brethren and sisters, are convicted that you have failed to render to God the things that are his; if you have not kindly considered the wants of the poor; or if you have withheld from any man his due, I entreat you to repent before the Lord, and to restore fourfold. Strict honesty toward God and men will alone meet the divine requirements. Remember that if you have defrauded a neighbor in trade, or in any manner deprived him of his own, or if you have robbed God in tithes and offerings, it is all registered in the books of Heaven." 4

Honesty in time and money

Time is a gift from God. Every moment belongs to Him and we are required to use it to the very best of our ability. God is glorified when we use this precious talent faithfully, to bless the needy and share the truth with others. "Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time." 5

Time wasted is time lost. We cannot change the past, we cannot recall a single moment. The past is history; we can only ask for God’s forgiveness if we have robbed Him by wasting time and neglecting duties. God has given us today to work for Him. By His grace we can do right from this point onward and thus redeem the past.

God needs men, men who will stand for the right. His work is great and each has a place to fill. "Men are wanted whose sense of justice, even in the smallest matters, will not allow them to make an entry of their time that is not minute and correct—men who will realize that they are handling means that belongs to God, and who would not unjustly appropriate one cent to their own use; men who will be just as faithful and exact, careful and diligent, in their labor, in the absence of their employer as in his presence, proving by their faithfulness that they are not merely men pleasers, eye-servants, but are conscientious, faithful, true workmen, doing right, not for human praise, but because they love and choose the right from a high sense of their obligation to God." 6

Integrity

Integrity is firmness of principle, steadfastness, and being unmovable in one’s decision for the right. It is a commodity very much needed in a world where much is promised and little gained. "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not" (Matthew 23:3).

"True character is not shaped from without, and put on; it radiates from within. If we wish to direct others in the path of righteousness, the principles of righteousness must be enshrined in our own hearts. Our profession of faith may proclaim the theory of religion, but it is our practical piety that holds forth the word of truth. The consistent life, the holy conversation, the unswerving integrity, the active, benevolent spirit, the godly example—these are the mediums through which light is conveyed to the world." 7

"The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

"But such a character is not the result of accident; it is not due to special favors or endowments of Providence. A noble character is the result of self-discipline, of the subjection of the lower to the higher nature—the surrender of self for the service of love to God and man." 8

Lives of great men

The Bible presents many examples of integrity. This quality is seen in the lives of men that stood for the right in face of danger and even death; men whose lives were a great blessing to their fellow men and who stood as representatives of God. Some of the most striking examples are Joseph, Moses, Elisha, Daniel, and Paul—the greatest statesmen and leaders of their time.

It was in their youth that Joseph and Daniel were separated from their homes and taken as captives to heathen lands. Joseph was especially subject to temptation and a change in fortune. He had been brought up, protected and loved in his father’s house. He was favored above all his other brothers. Then he was taken as a slave to serve in Potiphar’s house, where by faithful work he gained the respect and confidence of his master.

After refusing to yield to sin, he was unjustly imprisoned without hope of release. Then at the time of national crisis, he was called to assist with the leadership of the nation of Egypt—the greatest kingdom at the time. What enabled him to preserve his integrity in these trying situations?

"In his childhood, Joseph had been taught the love and fear of God. Often in his father’s tent, under the Syrian stars, he had been told the story of the night vision at Bethel, of the ladder from heaven to earth, and the descending and ascending angels, and of Him who from the throne above revealed Himself to Jacob. He had been told the story of the conflict beside the Jabbok, when, renouncing cherished sins, Jacob stood conqueror, and received the title of a prince with God.

"A shepherd boy, tending his father’s flocks, Joseph’s pure and simple life had favored the development of both physical and mental power. By communion with God through nature and the study of the great truths handed down as a sacred trust from father to son, he had gained strength of mind and firmness of principle.

"In the crisis of his life, when making that terrible journey from his childhood home in Canaan to the bondage which awaited him in Egypt, looking for the last time on the hills that hid the tents of his kindred, Joseph remembered his father’s God. He remembered the lessons of his childhood, and his soul thrilled with the resolve to prove himself true—ever to behave as a subject of the King of heaven.

"In the bitter life of a stranger and a slave, amidst the sights and sounds of vice and the allurements of heathen worship, a worship surrounded with all the attractions of wealth and culture and the pomp of royalty, Joseph was steadfast. He had learned the lesson of obedience to duty. Faithfulness in every station, from the most lowly to the most exalted, trained every power for highest service." 9

Joseph’s experience can be ours. When we are placed in temptation, let us look to God and choose to be faithful no matter what the cost may be. Even if honesty and integrity should cost us our life, let us stand firm.

The light of the world

Honesty and integrity of character are reflected in the countenance. That which is in the heart will shine forth in the life. If our countenance is to reflect the beauty of the character of Christ, our focus must be on Him.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). By contemplating the qualities of Christ’s character and studying His life, the same virtues will be developed in our own.

"Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men" (2 Corinthians 3:2).

What can men read as they observe our lives? Have our words always been truthful? Have we been honest in all our dealings? Have we stood firm as a rock where principles are concerned? Have we been guided by God’s word even in the minutest details of our lives?

"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart" (Psalm 15:1, 2).

"Will you prepare the way of the Lord by bearing a decided message for Him, not only in words, but by a godly example? The Lord's coming is very near. Those who know the truth should practice the truth, letting the light shine forth in precept and example." 10

Those that are to stand upon Mount Zion will be faultless. No guile will be found in their mouths. The Father’s name will be written in their foreheads. They will fully reflect the character of their Creator. May the Lord help each one of us to be among this blessed company that will follow the Lamb and dwell among the holy and undefiled forever!

References:

1 The Signs of the Times, January 23, 1879.
2 Child Guidance, p. 152.
3 Ibid.
4 The Review and Herald, January 3, 1882.
5 Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 342.
6 Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, p. 25.
7 The Desire of Ages, p. 307.
8 Education, p. 57.
9 Ibid., pp. 52, 53.
10 The Review and Herald, October 5, 1911.