Have you ever been asked to “bend” the rules, or to fudge things a bit? For nearly two decades I worked in the insurance industry. On a daily basis I was asked to break the rules – let something slide, fudge the numbers.
“Can you just say that the roof was replaced? (Even though there was a hole in it and it hadn’t been replaced in twenty years.)”
“Can you just say that someone else hit me? Instead of admitting that my kid ran into my car?”
“How about say I added that coverage yesterday and I just happened to have that claim today?”
The list goes on. It seems that personal integrity is not common these days. Professional integrity seems to be less common too.
If the rules were bent for everyone, what is the purpose of having rules?
Being full of integrity means you do the right and honest thing when no one is looking, and that comes down to being obedient to Christ.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is about two women, Shiphrah and Puah, a pair of midwives who showed professional integrity even when it meant going against the king. They lived in Egypt and had been given orders by Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, to kill all the Hebrew boys that were born. This story is found in Exodus 1:8-22.
Fear was the catalyst for these two women to be brave, and many others like them. Fear was also the reason that Pharaoh wanted to “thin out the people”. Pharoah was afraid that the rapidly multiplying Israelites would soon fight against Egypt, and due to their numbers, be more powerful. In verse 17, “But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.” (Exodus 1:17 NLT). In Hebrew, the word for fear is “yare”, which according to Strong’s Concordance means “to fear” – The act of (a verb). These ladies took brave action by defying Pharaoh and stopping genocide against the Israelites. The fear of God that these ladies experienced was more reverence and love, rather than apprehension.
Shiphrah, Puah, and others like them saved the Israelites, and one particular baby, Moses. Moses was responsible for freeing the Israelites from their enslavement and leading them to the Promised Land.
No matter what we face, we must not allow the pressures of the world to make us compromise our obedience to Christ. We are reminded of this in the New Testament in the book of Acts when, “Peter and the other apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than human beings!’” (Acts 5:29 NIV).
No matter what the world is asking us to do, we have to ask ourselves what God wants us to do. If not for these women and their bravery Moses may never have freed the Israelites.
Today when the world starts pressuring you to bend the rules, fudge the numbers or lie, I encourage you to be brave and do the right thing, being obedient to Christ.
This is a beautiful reminder and great perspective of fear! Thank you for sharing what God has put on your heart!!!
Thank you! ❤️