Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How to Live in Honor and Integrity ~ 2022

by Danna Shirley

When did it all begin? Can we pinpoint the direct Time and Cause when reason went off the rails and chaos became the norm hurtling down the tracks out of control? Must we go back decades or generations to identify the first culprit of ideas that moved us onto this springboard of bedlam and anarchy? It’s difficult for me to assume the voice of reason on this topic because I was raised during the generation of heroic fathers like my own father, my husband, and television fathers like Andy Griffith, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, Dick van Dyke, and Roy Rogers.

Roy Rogers Riders Club Rules

1.   Be neat and clean.                                  6.   Study hard and learn all you can.    

2.   Be courteous and polite.                        7.   Be kind to animals and take care of them.       
3.   Always obey your parents.                    8.   Eat all your food and never waste any.           
4.   Protect the weak and help them.          9.   Love God and go to Sunday school regularly.
5.   Be brave but never take chances.        10. Always respect our flag and our country.      

So, how do I diagnose the root cause of this chaos and arrive at the answer that will appeal to constructive actions? I could spend hours, days, and weeks poring over research data trying to compose and compile it in some sort of presentation; however, I would just like to report this grandmother’s observations over a lifetime. Instead of directing our thoughts on the negatives, which are already evident, which are thrown in our face on a daily basis, and reported on the news hourly, I would like to focus on HONOR and INTEGRITY, those things lacking in our society today.

 WHO?       So, who is responsible to teach honor and integrity? It must begin first at home with parents and other family members. Parents are obligated to “train up a child in the way he/she should go” (Proverbs 22:6). There was a day when it was not only the parents, but the whole community who would feel the responsibility to raise up a generation of children who would be good citizens and add benefit to the whole.

            If a child was caught doing wrong, they were punished according to the degree of their infraction. This was “outside discipline” from the parent. Weren’t we all tempted at some point in our childhood to snatch a pack of gum or a candy bar from the grocery store? If caught, we were reprimanded and taken back to the store to confess our fault and pay for the item. The lesson was to be honest and honorable; to have a good name and not be ashamed of our actions. We usually learned it very well.

WHAT?     So, what is honor and integrity? There are many qualities to obtain in growing up and maturing. Time, age, experience, and even a few failures teach us how to walk through our lives with these virtues.

Honor: to be civil, gracious, decent, moral, righteous, valuable, and upright.

Integrity: to be honest, truthful, trustworthy, reliable, genuine, dependable, faithful, and respectful.

Learning to walk in honor and integrity may have begun from parental teaching but as we mature, we move from “outside discipline” to “inner motivation” . . . following what we know is right and obeying our own conscience and heart values. We honor our parent’s training by being good citizens in our community.

WHERE?  So, where else did we learn honor and integrity? We now move into our school setting with our teachers. I remember standing, facing the flag with my right hand over my heart, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every morning before class. How many of our children, let alone our adult citizens, even know the Pledge today? There have been three versions over the years:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands,

one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." --1892

 

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  --1923

 

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” –1954

 I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

We are promising our Allegiance to be Faithful and Committed

to the ideals, standards, morals, and ethics of our country.

 OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The flag symbolizes our Fifty States joined in a common bond

to fulfill those ideals, standards, morals, and ethics.

 AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS

As a Republic, we elect representatives who are accountable to us

for the decisions they make for the total good of America.

ONE NATION UNDER GOD

Our Founders understood our freedom ultimately comes from God.

Our government was established to secure that God-Given freedom.

 INDIVISIBLE

We pledge ourselves to stay together as a country,

incapable of being divided, even when we disagree.

WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

Liberty means freedom, as the freedom to worship, freedom to assemble, 

and freedom to speak.

We also commit ourselves to Justice, being fair and right in our judgment of people.

--copied

             Next, we learned honor and integrity from attending Sunday School and Church. It would take a lifetime to absorb and follow all that Christ teaches in His Word. First and foremost, we surrender our heart, mind, soul, and spirit to God and the Holy Spirit guides and directs us into the full knowledge of God and His desires for our life. Secondly, we should attend a good Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church with a Pastor who preaches the uncompromised Word of God.   

WHEN?     So, when is honor and integrity developed in our life? I would say from the cradle to the grave! We learn from our first words and first steps to our dying breath. All that is in our heart, mind, soul, and spirit should reflect civil, gracious, decent, moral, righteous, valuable, and upright living. It should reflect the virtues of honesty, truth, trust, reliability, dependability, faithfulness, respect, and the genuine quality of a Child of God.

WHY?        So, why should honor and integrity be sought after? Why not? Don’t we want to be a benefit and an asset to society? Don’t we want to respect ourselves, our actions, our contributions to this world? Don’t we want to pass them along to our descendants so they, too, can give strength and quality to the lives of their children?

HOW?        So, how do we live with honor and integrity? Let me ask it this way, how can we live without it? Do we want to continue being fearful of the bedlam, anarchy, crime, violence, and all manner of rebellion and corruption that is taking place all around us today? Our family should be proud of the life we live and not ashamed of our actions? We may not be able to undo the damage that has been done to past generations, but we can turn the corner and bring our country back to the honor and integrity we once held so dear. We need to breathe life back into America.

            How? Vote for honest, upright people of integrity who want to restore our country to its founding roots. World history reveals what works and what doesn’t work. Look to other countries who have failed by adopting the wrong policies and platforms that took their country into chaos. Pray for honest elections, honest candidates, and honest results. Ask God to return us to be One Nation Under God again!