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“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them” (Proverbs 11:3).
“And beside this…add to your faith virtue” (2 Peter 1:5).
The words integrity and virtue have a similar meaning, for both bring before us the thought of moral courage. Both mean having the courage to stand up for what is right, even in the face of opposition. You will find out that this quality is sadly lacking in the world today.
During my lifetime I have had the chance to speak to many people about this, some of them believers and some of them unbelievers. I spoke to them because they were either doing something wrong themselves, or standing by and saying nothing when others did it. When I spoke to them privately, all of them admitted that what I said was right, and that they had been wrong either to do something they knew was sinful, or to stand by while others did it. But then their excuse was, in the language of today, “But what you gonna do, when everyone’s doing it?”
As Christians, we are not to be governed by others in our behavior. The Lord Jesus never gave in to public opinion, and He has called us to do the same. He will give us the courage to do what is right.
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