We are being watched whether we want to be or not. People watch us shop, they watch how we walk, and even watch how we handle good or bad situations.

Nowadays, with cellphones, we are not only watched; we are being recorded on video. Some of us may not like it and complain about invasion of privacy. When we are out in public, however, the privacy laws go right out the window.

This brings me to the thought of integrity. What is integrity? What was taught to me was this: integrity is doing the right thing not only when being watched, but doing the right thing when no one is looking.

Some people have a lot of integrity, but there are others who have very little.

As a born-again Christian, we need to have strong integrity. Not only when we are in church or with other believers, but we need strong integrity in everything we do.

Integrity tells much about your character. It shows up in how you handle bad situations. In order to have strong integrity, you must have a strong character to go with it. They both work hand in hand, and without one, you won’t have much or any of the other.

We may never know it, but people watch Christians closely. They are waiting for us to mess up so they can say that Christians are no different than they are and that Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites.

Christians are far from perfect, and we will make mistakes. This is where integrity and character should jump in. When Christians make mistakes, it’s how we fix them. We apologize to individuals if we have wronged them. We go back and make things right if we can. We are slow to anger; we are forgiving even though it may have been hurtful. We forgive even when the other party won’t acknowledge doing anything wrong. We stand firm in our faith, even though it may not be popular or we are made fun of for it.

Integrity comes from always trying to do the right thing all the time, even when we are alone. It also comes from helping others without expecting anything in return.

When that store cashier forgets to ring up that item at the bottom of your shopping cart, do you say it’s her fault she didn’t charge me, or do you go back and say this item was missed when I checked out? I can’t take it without paying for it. If you see someone drop a dollar bill on the floor and not know it, do you pick it up and put it in your pocket? Or do you pick it up and let that person know that they had dropped it?

The little things matter. It matters to God; therefore, it matters to us.

Job showed his character and integrity when Satan took all his wealth, his family, and his health. Job did not say to God, “Why did you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?” No, he kept on giving praise and thanks to the Lord through all of it.

Think about it. Are we like Job, or are we like a spoiled brat crying about everything that doesn’t agree with us?

Stay faithful and receive God’s blessings.