God is known for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. Throughout Scripture, God used ordinary men to affect His kingdom in extraordinary ways.
One thing, however, set them apart. If we look carefully, we can see something they had in common. Each man God used had a responsive heart ready to hear God and a life that was available to obey God. Each possessed the integrity to honor God. The integrity they possessed was not strong in Christian character, but the point is they had integrity.
Many times we feel that God can’t use us because our own actions, or, just as important, our inaction, does not measure up to God’s moral standards. Two things are involved in taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary: a man and the almighty God in a covenant relationship.
We are the ordinary. The extraordinary comes from God’s nature. Whatever God touches becomes special because the Creator has interacted with the creation.
If you are reading this, then I believe God has interacted with you and, because God is everywhere, any situation has the potential for becoming extraordinary. This means your life this day can have an extraordinary impact for the kingdom.
This process is unexplainable from a man’s perspective, but from a kingdom perspective, it is the normal way God accomplishes His will through us. Strong Christian character is the result of your heart’s desire to obey God. Integrity of character occurs when there is consistency between actions and inner convictions over time. Christian character results from both human effort and divine intervention. It is the work of God as you relate to Him in love.
A man of moral integrity equals a man who is convicted by God’s moral standards and will not change in his attitude or ways in any given situation or time. His belief is never changing, and his words of his convictions are biblical.
That’s a hard mark to hit every day but, unlike human contracts that become void if one party fails, God never fails. God is faithful regardless of our faithfulness. He welcomes us back each and every day with open arms. It by this overwhelming love and grace for us that we can find the strength to fight another day when we fail.
For the original article, visit nomatterthecost.com.
