Forgotten Virtues 04: Integrity (Follow Up)

Talking through the message during the week helps you turn what God is saying to you into action steps. These talking points, questions and scriptures are designed to help you take the next step. Don’t feel like you have to answer every question. Pick out the questions that will stir up conversation and action among your group.
•    How would you describe or define integrity?

Read Psalm 15:1-5.
Psalm 15 paints a picture of what a life of integrity looks like.
•    Integrity can be defined as your behavior matching your beliefs. Describe a specific time when your behavior matched your beliefs.
•    How have you experienced the benefits of integrity? Share some examples.
•    How have others benefited from your integrity?

Read Matthew 23:23-32.
The opposite of integrity is hypocrisy. In this passage we see Jesus strongly chastise the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. 

•    Why is it important to avoid being a hypocrite? 

•    How have you observed hypocrisy in others? How did that impact you? 

•    What are some consequences of hypocrisy?

Read Job 27:5-6 and Matthew 5:37.
These verses encourage us to maintain our integrity. 

•    Describe a time when you did not act with integrity. How would you act differently today? 

•    How much is your integrity worth to you? 

•    What can you do on a daily basis to develop the forgotten virtue of integrity?

next steps
Here are some specific things you can do this week to help you maintain integrity in your life and keep it from being a forgotten virtue:

Dig deeper into God’s Word this week to learn more about what the Bible says about integrity. Here are some suggested verses and passages for you to read on this forgotten virtue: 

1 Chronicles 29:17, 

Nehemiah 7:2, 

Psalm 25:21, 

1 Samuel 12:1-5, 

1 Kings 9:4-10, 

Proverbs 10:9, 

2 Corinthians 1:12.

Have you observed integrity in others? If so, take the time to let someone know how their integrity has impacted you. Talk with this person about how to better maintain integrity in your own life.

Talk It Over with God:
•    Give thanks for the people God has placed in your life who demonstrate the virtue of integrity.
•    Ask God to help you maintain a life of integrity. Seek His guidance and strength.
•    Confess the areas where you struggle to have integrity. Ask for God’s help in those areas.
•    Pray for the people in your life who have demonstrated great integrity. Ask God to bless them.

g-ram