Question:

You’re in a touchy situation.  Your boss has asked you to do something that you consider unethical, and you can’t see a way out – not if you want to keep your job.

One thought keeps coming to your mind: “What would Jesus do?”

You have no idea.

You know Jesus wouldn’t lie or cheat or steal, but you’re not quite sure how He would handle your situation.

At work, the pressure to give in is mounting.  What should you do?  How can you apply God’s Word to your situation?

Answer:

Wendy has posed a scenario that we can all experience in our Christian walk.

Possessing God’s character and demonstrating it is a difficult thing to do living in this world.  Integrity is a virtue that is hard to find.  There are constant challenges and temptations to cause us to forsake what is right.  So what do we do?  How do we demonstrate God’s character in a difficult situation?  How do we be true to His Word and demonstrate it with our actions?

Let’s first look at what it means to have God’s character.  Godly character is consistently doing the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reasons.  Sounds like an impossible task.  D. L. Moody said, “ Character is what you are in the dark.”.…. When no one is looking.  We must do what we say and act out what we believe.  When we don’t we are hypocrites.  We are not representing who Jesus is. Our goal as a believer is to show the world God’s character and love through us. Integrity is an act of the will.

There are practical things that we can do to increase our ability to express God’s character.

1. We must desire to be like Christ and represent Him in truth.  We need to pray that God will give us that desire.
2. We must study the Bible.  Proverbs is a great place to start.  It is the wisdom book.  It will teach you what God’s character looks like.  It is full of instructions and warnings about how to lead a godly life.
3. We must pray.  Ask Him to transform your heart and mind into His heart and mind.  Hate evil and love good.  Amos 5:14-15
4. We must spend time with people who have godly character.  We learn by example.  There is strength in being with others of like mind.
5. We must build a support system that will help us to stand in any situation.  When circumstances get hard we will have people who will walk through the situation and encourage us to do the right thing.
6. We must find a mentor.  This is usually someone older than us who continuously demonstrates godly character in their life.
7. We must set priorities.  Nothing should be more important then representing God’s character.  We are a reflection of God’s character.  God’s way is first.
8. We must persevere.  When we know what is right we must follow through.  Perseverance builds our character.  Romans 5:3-4
9. We must have honest and open communication with people.  Lying never helps a situation, though at times it seems to be a quick and easy answer.   God will give us the strength to meet the issue head on…in truth.  The solution will be what God wants and it will ultimately bring Him glory.
10. Remember that integrity will protect you.  (Psalm 25)  Integrity will be rewarded.

We are all tempted to fall prey to doing the wrong thing in an effort to control the situation because we don’t think God can take care of us.  Will I have my job, will I get my promotion, what will my peers think?  God said, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 KJV).  When we seek His righteousness it will lead us to do the right thing.   God promises that He will take care of everything else that we are concerned about.

Pressing on,

Ann Varwig

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