Integrity vs Indecisiveness

Proverbs 28:6 ESV
“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”

Integrity is to walk with all of our heart in the things of the Lord.  The word here for integrity was used to describe the way that David and Job walked with a perfect heart before God. This did not mean these men were perfect, just that they did not want to waver before God.  They wanted to live for the Lord with all their heart – all the time. 

The word “crooked” that describes some who are rich (but not all) because many of the rich depend largely on their money, not God. The literal Hebrew means, “perverse in two ways,” or what we will call double mindedness.

What this describes is someone who is going back and forth between two opinions and two views.  Too often the rich think they are beyond the law – or above it because of the influence their money buys in this world.  Too often the rich make the mistake of placing their hope in riches and what they provide in this world – rather than in God and the hope of His reward in eternity. 

Solomon says that when a person acts with integrity, though he or she may not have much monetarily, they are better off than a rich and powerful person who is double minded, meaning the lines are blurred between right and wrong and they don’t care who gets hurt by their crooked ways.

Again, this is not all the rich, but a large portion of those who are rich and do not follow God. Integrity is living upright, whether people are watching or not. Acting the same in secret as we do openly.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for showing me that integrity is the greater attribute over possessions.