Many of us would say we value integrity, but do we really? What if no one is looking? The truth is, we all desire integrity, but actually doing it when the stakes are high can be challenging. So why should we do the right thing?

I’ll be the first to say that I have not always held up my integrity the way I should, and it usually happens whenever I can justify myself for not doing what I’m supposed to do. I would take off from work by using my sick days to do errands or just to stay home when I didn’t feel like going to work.

I would justify my actions by telling myself, “It’s fine, everyone does it. You have worked so hard and accomplished a lot this week, you deserve a day off.“

How would this hurt me anyways?

But it wasn’t until I heard my friend’s story when my eyes really opened to the truth of why we should do the right thing. She was sharing with me her testimony of God’s pure goodness in her life. She had received a call from Disney asking for her to do a job interview (which she had never even applied for).

However, she had just came back from a vacation and had no more vacation days to use to be able to do the interview. What would most people do? They would probably lie and use their sick days to do the interview.. I mean it’s Disney!

But what did she do? She said no.

She refused to use her sick days to do the interview because she knew it wasn’t right to lie to her current company. The amazing story was a year later, Disney contacted her again to come down for an interview. This time she did have enough vacation days so she went off to do the interview and by God’s grace, she got the job on the spot.

Her testimony reminded me that God is always in control. God doesn’t need our creative and manipulative wrong ways for us to receive what He has planned for us. When we choose to do things without integrity, we are choosing our way instead of God’s way, and if we want the best that God has for us, it will only come through following His way.

It can be hard to choose integrity especially when we aren’t content with what the results that it will bring, but we must remember that God’s way is always better, and His ways is what will lead us to true life. Proverbs 10:16 tell us clearly that “The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.“

When we choose to do things our way, it shows that we don’t trust in God. Do you trust God? Do you believe that everything he says is 100% true? The best way to answer that is by your actions.

It’s only through walking in God’s path that we can inherit his blessings and live our lives to the fullest. We think that doing wrong when no one is looking will not hurt us, but if we continue walking on this path, we will slowly drift away from the blissful life that God has set before us. Integrity is the only way to enter onto God’s path, and God’s path is the only way for you to achieve the great plans he has planned for you.

This world teaches us to take shortcuts and to manipulate things to get what we want, but the truth is, living this way will never lead you to long-term success. To make it until the end, you need integrity, and unfortunately, not many people find it. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “..For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Will you follow the majority of this world or will you choose God’s way, the secret treasure to life? Even if people aren’t watching, God is watching. What God sees is far more important than what people might see you do.