From “Growing in the character of a disciple”: Chapter 6 – A closer look at the various types of people with whom we must be faithful
That kind of faithfulness and honour, where our word is regarded as our bond, needs to apply not just in business but in every transaction we make and in all our relationships. Look at how Samuel operated as a judge over Israel. He was able to challenge the whole nation to name even a single occasion when he had ever acted unfaithfully. Not one person was able to do so:
3“Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you.” 4They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5He said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.
1 Samuel 12:3-5 (NASB)
Would you feel confident enough to stand in front of all the people who have ever known you and challenge them all to point out even one occasion when you have ever acted unfaithfully? Few of us could stand up to that test. We must seek to be blameless, like Samuel, in all our dealings with other people, even in the smallest details.
By contrast, one only has to look at the difficulties faced by the Democratic and Republic parties in the USA when trying to find a presidential candidate, out of a population of over 300 million. One would imagine it would be easy to find thousands of exemplary candidates for that office. Instead, we see men coming forward, but as soon as the media begin to dig around and investigate their past life, all sorts of things come out, such as drug abuse, adultery, unfaithfulness or sexual harassment. We must be different and go to great lengths to maintain our integrity consistently and over the long term.
