Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
Okay a quick summary of what we’ve learned thus far regarding integrity
- Integrity is a oneness of God and following His will for us.
- In order to get a better understanding of integrity, we have listed qualities and characteristics of a person who we view as having integrity, the reality of integrity, and the costs of not having integrity versus the benefits of when we do.
- We have yet to write anything in the means column!
So this is where I left you last time.
Now time to work on filling the “means” column, which requires a second activity!
First we need five notecards. In our session, we had five different colored note cards (yellow, blue, hot pink, lavender, and white), for ease of teaching. I will refer to the colors we used, but if you only have white note cards, that is fine! Also, I will be sharing what I wrote on my notecards as examples and for readers to get a better understanding of me.
First on the front (unlined) side of the yellow note card you want to write “Doing”. On the back (lined) side, take a minute and write all the things you are involved with. This could be school, being a mother, your job, etc. Below is my notecard.
Place the yellow notecard aside, and grab your blue notecard. On the front write, “Seeing”. On the back, write brief snippets about where are you going (top half) and how do you see yourself (bottom half). Below is my notecard.
Place the blue notecard aside, and grab your hot pink notecard. On the front write, “Being”. On the back write why you feel you are here on this earth. Below is my notecard.
Place the hot pink notecard aside, and grab your lavender notecard. On the front write, “Valuing” and on the back write what you value when you are making decisions. Once again, below is my note card.
Lastly, on the white note card, write the following phrase: “To the Glory of God, I exist to serve by” and now you are going to pick a two word phrase. Examples of two word phrases include: igniting joy, imparting wisdom, nurturing belief, bringing light, creating imprints, living vision, realizing value, cultivating growth, awakening worth, being true, revealing purpose, setting free, instilling courage and securing dignity. Try to think of a two word phrase that reflects why you are glorifying God. My notecard is below.
Now all of these cards are what makes up the “means” of integrity, summed up by the white card. The yellow card represents your mission, the blue is your vision (where), the hot pink is your purpose (why), and the purple is what you value.
The purpose of this exercise is to help try and understand God’s will for your life through the passion He has set on your heart. (Disclaimer: you clearly still need to talk to God about His will. Make sure you are not turning your will into His will.)
So for me, “To the Glory of God, I exist to serve by inspiring hope” by improving the lives of others whether that is through being a missionary, wife, mother, or Nobel Peace Prize winner because respecting others and helping others succeed through love, compassion and understanding is important to me. Right now, I can inspire hope with my work at school, at church, in my thesis, and as a missionary.
Now there is limited chance that I could spit entire paragraph out at a snap of a finger. That is why I have my two word phrase to fall back on! When I am feeling uninspired, exhausted, or frustrated with a situation, I know that I can always try to find a way to inspire hope and I will be glorifying God in accordance with His will.
I would love to hear what you decide on for your two word phrase and why you picked that phrase!
Blessings!
