February 18
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for Thee.” Psalm 25:21
Continuing our quotes from Maxwell:
“3. Integrity facilitates high standards. Leaders must live by higher standards than their followers. Tom Robbins said, ‘Don’t let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It’s not the time that will bring us down, any more than it’s society. There’s a tendency there’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them of victims of social circumstance. You buy that and you pay with your soul. What limits people is their lack of character.’ When the character of leaders is low, so are their standards.”
“4. Integrity results in a solid reputation, not just and image. Thomas Macauly said, ‘The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he were never found out.’ Life is like a vise; at times it will squeeze us. At those moments of pressure, whatever is inside will be found out. We cannot give what we do not have. Image promises much but produces little. Integrity never disappoints.”
“5. Integrity means living it myself before leading others. My basketball coach, Don Neff, repeatedly emphasize[d] to the team, ‘You play like you practice. You play like you practice.’ When we fail to follow this principle, we fail to reach our personal potentials.”
“6. Integrity helps a leader be credible, not just clever. Each of us, eventually, is recognized for what we are, not what we try to appear to be. Ann Landers said, ‘People of integrity expect to be believed. They also know time will prove them right and are willing to wait.’”
“7. Integrity is a hard-won achievement. Integrity is not a given factor in everyone’s life. It is a result of self-discipline, inner trust, and a decision to be relentlessly honest in all situations in our lives. When we sell out to someone else, we sell out to ourselves. Hester Chomondelay underscores this in his short poem ‘Judas’: ‘Still as of old; men by themselves are priced; for thirty pieces Judas sold; Himself, not Christ.’ Billy Graham said, ‘Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” ’ ”
“YOU WILL ONLY BECOME WHAT YOU ARE BECOMING RIGHT NOW.
Though you cannot go back
And make a brand new start, my friend,
Anyone can start from now
And make a brand-new end.”