78. Integrity, re-visited, notes on a talk by our son Wayne.
An "extra" today!
I wanted to write an entry on "integrity", and had found notes our son Wayne had sent to us after he had given a talk on "integrity". When I decided to write I couldn't find them, and did blog # 76. Then today, in cleaning my desk, I found them ! So I decided to put them in as a new entry, as I really like them.
INTEGRITY (as given in a talk by Wayne M. Eckman – son of Wayne D and Paralee Miles Eckman)
Our son, Wayne Miles Eckman, State Farm Agent, and in Tabernacle Choir.
"The dictionary defines integrity as “honesty, sincerity, completeness, wholeness, an unimpaired condition.” It means that one having integrity could be trusted by his every word and his actions would be consistent with his beliefs, even when nobody is watching. All of us desire that kind of genuine integrity, but occasionally we compromise what is our inner core we know to be true and right. Thankfully, through the atonement of Christ, we can through sincere repentance regain and retain the whole and unimpaired peace that comes as we strive to live without guile. Let’s explore this Christlike virtue of integrity.
The 13th Article of Faith states that we believe in being honest and true. Other virtues are also enumerated. The key to achieving them is in the last sentence of the Article of Faith as it states: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy we seek after these things.”
Pres. James E. Faust made the following statement in the April 1982 General Conference:
President James E. Faust
The Lord’s laws of conduct will always be governed by absolutes. His integrity is perfect. His plan of redemption for us demonstrates that fact. He can be taken at His word when He says that mercy can claim the penitent and satisfy the demands of justice because of the atonement of His Only Begotten Son. He won’t waver on that doctrine. Nor will He allow mercy to rob justice. If so, as Alma states in Chapter 42:25: “God would cease to be God.” He is always consistent and fair in His dealings with His children.
There are many examples of integrity in the scriptures:
How would we live if we knew that a certain action would “offend God?”
Some situations in which your integrity is in question:
●You dent the fender of someone else’s car in a parking lot. No one saw you do it.
●Your neighbor offers you free software that you can copy from him. You can’t afford to buy the software at its current market value.
●You sneaked some fresh-baked cookies and your mother asks you who ate them.
●You have accepted a date with someone you don’t really want to go with and the man/woman of your dreams calls to invite you to something.
●You shared some hot gossip to a group of friends about another individual. The rumor gets back to that person and she asks you if you started the rumor.
●You promised to do something and completely forgot. What will you tell the person or people whom you let down when they ask why you fell through on your promise.
●During a test, some students in front of you are cheating and you hear one of them whisper the answer to a question you already answered. Would you leave your answer even though you now realize it is wrong?
●You committed to help with a service project and your friends show up and want you to go to a movie with them.
●You have been overlooked for a promotion you feel you deserve. You congratulate the chosen individual. Later that day a co-worker asks what you think of the new appointment and his/her qualifications.
Our dear President Gordon B. Hinckley
Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave a powerful suggestion: “Do not write a check with your tongue that your actions cannot cash.” Even the words we say denote our level of integrity.
Integrity is the sum total of all virtues. The last of the listed Young Women Values of the LDS Church is integrity. The Young Women Values are faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works and integrity. A person with integrity would follow the Boy Scout Law, and would be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
Christ is the one person who has lived upon this earth with perfect integrity. He will help us to learn to live with integrity, and overcome our weaknesses. (Book of Mormon: Ether 12.27.)"
I wanted to write an entry on "integrity", and had found notes our son Wayne had sent to us after he had given a talk on "integrity". When I decided to write I couldn't find them, and did blog # 76. Then today, in cleaning my desk, I found them ! So I decided to put them in as a new entry, as I really like them.
INTEGRITY (as given in a talk by Wayne M. Eckman – son of Wayne D and Paralee Miles Eckman)
"The dictionary defines integrity as “honesty, sincerity, completeness, wholeness, an unimpaired condition.” It means that one having integrity could be trusted by his every word and his actions would be consistent with his beliefs, even when nobody is watching. All of us desire that kind of genuine integrity, but occasionally we compromise what is our inner core we know to be true and right. Thankfully, through the atonement of Christ, we can through sincere repentance regain and retain the whole and unimpaired peace that comes as we strive to live without guile. Let’s explore this Christlike virtue of integrity.
The 13th Article of Faith states that we believe in being honest and true. Other virtues are also enumerated. The key to achieving them is in the last sentence of the Article of Faith as it states: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy we seek after these things.”
Pres. James E. Faust made the following statement in the April 1982 General Conference:
“Complete and constant integrity is a great law of human conduct. There need to be some absolutes in life. There are some things that should not ever be done, some lines that should never be crossed, vows that should never be broken, words that should never be spoken, and thoughts that should never be entertained.”
The Lord’s laws of conduct will always be governed by absolutes. His integrity is perfect. His plan of redemption for us demonstrates that fact. He can be taken at His word when He says that mercy can claim the penitent and satisfy the demands of justice because of the atonement of His Only Begotten Son. He won’t waver on that doctrine. Nor will He allow mercy to rob justice. If so, as Alma states in Chapter 42:25: “God would cease to be God.” He is always consistent and fair in His dealings with His children.
There are many examples of integrity in the scriptures:
Joseph, in Egypt, refused to compromise his moral integrity. Genesis 39:7-12. He “got him out."
The oath between Nephi and Zoram, in 1 Nephi 4:30. Among semetic people oaths are sacred. An oath “as I live” is powerful to them. “As the Lord liveth” is a most powerful oath. “As I live and as the Lord liveth” is absolute assurance. Once an oath was given, the person or persons giving that oath totally trusted it would be fulfilled.
Joseph Smith never denied his vision. Joseph Smith History 1:25: “For I had seen a vision. I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.”
How would we live if we knew that a certain action would “offend God?”
Some situations in which your integrity is in question:
●You dent the fender of someone else’s car in a parking lot. No one saw you do it.
●Your neighbor offers you free software that you can copy from him. You can’t afford to buy the software at its current market value.
●You sneaked some fresh-baked cookies and your mother asks you who ate them.
●You have accepted a date with someone you don’t really want to go with and the man/woman of your dreams calls to invite you to something.
●You shared some hot gossip to a group of friends about another individual. The rumor gets back to that person and she asks you if you started the rumor.
●You promised to do something and completely forgot. What will you tell the person or people whom you let down when they ask why you fell through on your promise.
●During a test, some students in front of you are cheating and you hear one of them whisper the answer to a question you already answered. Would you leave your answer even though you now realize it is wrong?
●You committed to help with a service project and your friends show up and want you to go to a movie with them.
●You have been overlooked for a promotion you feel you deserve. You congratulate the chosen individual. Later that day a co-worker asks what you think of the new appointment and his/her qualifications.
Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley said:
“I believe that honesty is still the best policy. What a destructive thing is a little dishonesty. It has become a cankering disease in our society . . Cheating in the payment of taxes robs the treasury of millions and places undue burdens on those who pay .. Imagine the flood of money that would pour into the offices of government, business and merchants if all who have filched a little here and there were to return that which they had dishonestly taken. The cost of every bag of groceries at the supermarket, of every tie or blouse bought at the shopping center, includes for each of us the burden of shoplifting.”
Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave a powerful suggestion: “Do not write a check with your tongue that your actions cannot cash.” Even the words we say denote our level of integrity.
Integrity is the sum total of all virtues. The last of the listed Young Women Values of the LDS Church is integrity. The Young Women Values are faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works and integrity. A person with integrity would follow the Boy Scout Law, and would be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
Christ is the one person who has lived upon this earth with perfect integrity. He will help us to learn to live with integrity, and overcome our weaknesses. (Book of Mormon: Ether 12.27.)"
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