“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Walking, eating, loving, working, while relating to others in our everyday lives while seeking God first and doing what He says even when no one else is looking and applauding or criticizing and doing the right thing no matter who is watching is walking humbly with God. Paul says we are offer ourselves as an offering to God in sacrifice at the beginning of our day for this is an “worship” to God. In truth, this action on our part pleases God so much that His will becomes evident and doable as God leads us where we walk. Let us go to that particular passage written by Paul, inspired by God, who walked humbly and gratefully with God;
“Place Your Life Before God—So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” –Paul, Romans 12:1-2, MSG
This is the foundation of integrity God seeks to develop within us. But we must allow Him to do so. Life must be God first before anyone or anything else. Our relationship with God involves offering ourselves to God then laying down our agenda for His best. Our obedience to God demonstrates our true love for God and is expressed in our lives as integrity in all other relationships. Solomon’s wisdom from God to his son reflects what our Father desires from us to develop. It is important for us to know and believe that God will help us grow and mature as we walk with Him and learn from Him.
Proverbs 11, The Message
Without Good Direction, People Lose Their Way
God hates cheating in the marketplace;
he loves it when business is aboveboard.
2 The stuck-up fall flat on their faces,
but down-to-earth people stand firm.
3 The integrity of the honest keeps them on track;
the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.
4 A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
but a principled life can stand up to the worst.
5 Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.
6 Good character is the best insurance;
crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.
7 When the wicked die, that’s it—
the story’s over, end of hope.
8 A good person is saved from much trouble;
a bad person runs straight into it.
9 The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
the common sense of the godly preserves them.
10 When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers;
when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.
11 When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes;
evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.
12 Mean-spirited slander is heartless;
quiet discretion accompanies good sense.
13 A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret,
but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence.
14 Without good direction, people lose their way;
the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.
15 Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned;
if you keep a cool head, you’ll avoid rash bargains.
16 A woman of gentle grace gets respect,
but men of rough violence grab for loot.
A God-Shaped Life
17 When you’re kind to others, you help yourself;
when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.
18 Bad work gets paid with a bad check;
good work gets solid pay.
19 Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live,
or chase after phantoms of evil and die.
20 God can’t stand deceivers,
but oh how he relishes integrity.
21 Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free,
and God’s loyal people will triumph.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful face on an empty head.
23 The desires of good people lead straight to the best,
but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
those who help others are helped.
26 Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!
Blessings on all who play fair and square!
27 The one who seeks good finds delight;
the student of evil becomes evil.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it,
what’s in store for the bad!
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Solomon has given us behavioral responses; but know, that for us, at the heart of it all, is this foundational truth: We must Surrender. For it is our repentance of our sins to Jesus and our surrender to God’s will that God begins developing our new life with Him. To “walk humbly with God” is to listen to His instruction and embrace His “perfect, pleasing will” with trusting, willing obedience. Jesus demonstrated perfect willing obedience and was the perfect example of integrity for us to follow. (See Philippians 2, plus the Gospels) We are not born with integrity; integrity is developed within us. Surrender to God begins our development of true integrity.
Our surrender to God comes with resurrection power! We will never attain perfection; but we know we are perfectly forgiven by God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. We are also given God’s resurrection power as we live our redeemed lives in Jesus!
God’s Holy Spirit comes into our being and resides there! He speaks God’s words to us as we seek what is right and true. Our new lives begin to transform from dark to light, from the inside out, as God’s Holy Spirit leads us to God’s true wisdom with discernment in our daily decision making.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”, says Jesus to His disciples.
Don’t miss this—God speaks directly to us through His Holy Spirit living in us! Are we listening to Him as we believe in Him? Listeners avoid much trouble when we listen, trust and obey. Listeners are learners! Learners are obedient to Him.
Will we then be exempt from troubles in this world if we listen and obey? No, but we have a Guide that leads us to all that is truth so we can navigate an imperfect world. It is GOD who develops our integrity with “well-formed maturity” as we walk with God! I have discovered that when the world collapses for others who do not know God; it is the Redeemed who they might have mocked or ignored before that they run to for wisdom and help.
Be ready for God’s words to come through us to them who are in dire need of a Savior and Lord! Tell His Story for His glory and their salvation in Him! God will help!
Lord,
We know it all begins with a heart surrender to you. I surrender. I’m listening. “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:8-10
In Jesus Name, Amen
