Integrity at Home

I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.

Psalm 101:2

We have heard continually for the past several years of men (mostly men) who had great respect in the public eye failing in their personal lives. The scene of a leader making a confession with his tearful wife standing beside him has become almost commonplace. We expect to see more each week.

At some point there entered into our minds the idea that our public lives and our private lives can be neatly compartmentalized into little boxes and never affect each other. We have come to think that as long as we can still keep the public image clean and neat that we can live with all kinds of compromise in our private lives and it will not matter. But that idea will never work. Who we are eventually comes out.

In Psalm 101 David recognized the critical need to keep his home life pure. We need to live in such a way that the people who know us best respect us the most. This will only happen as we commit ourselves to integrity both in the public eye and behind closed doors. May God help us as leaders to keep this trust.