1 Chronicles 29:17 “I know my God that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.” (NIV)
Have you ever heard this phrase; “It is better to have an enemy who keeps his word than a friend who does not?” Ever since I got sober I’ve tried my best to have solid integrity. There are various definitions for integrity but those that I often think of when I see the word integrity are: “keeping promises to self and others,” or “the ability to handle the demands of reality in an honest and forthright way,” or “when thoughts words and deeds are aligned.”
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to work with countless numbers of people trying to get and stay sober (if you aren’t an alcoholic or addict but admit you are broken; replace the word sober with “repaired” in the first part of this sentence) and the number one stumbling block to staying “sober/repaired” is the inability to keep our word to ourselves.
I can remember in my final months of using I would work as hard as I could to keep promises I had made to others, but broke the one promise I made to myself hundreds of times which was, “I will never use again!” Eventually I no longer had the ability to keep any promises (addictions destroy integrity) and subsequently hit bottom.
But, by the Grace of God, I didn’t die from my addiction and life of unfulfilled promises as I ended up in a Chemical Dependency Center. During my stay there I can remember getting a bronze token and enscribed on that token was the phrase “To Thine Ownself Be True.”
If you talk with any recovering alcoholic or addict they will tell you that those who are successful in rebuilding their lives are those who are successful in being honest with “self” a day at a time.
The key to keeping promises to self is to keep it simple, ask God for help, and be transparent with an accountablity partner.
The hardest part is to keep it simple as so many people try to fix ALL aspects of their life once they see the “light” and it is virtually impossible. Working on keeping one promise to self per year is a great way to start but make sure you identify the most important one and work on it first. Many years ago I made a promise to myself that I would stay sober and although I’ve made dozens of other promises to myself over the years and been able to keep most of them; my “sobriety” promise is the one promise I cannot to break, because all other promises I make will be in default.
Asking God for His support and guidance while sharing your promises to self with a trusted accountability partner will be a sure fire way of living a life of integrity to not just others but to yourself. As stated in 1 Chronicles above “God is pleased with integrity” and it all starts with self.
P.E.A.C.E.
jay@eaglelaunch.com
