Daily Bible verse for everyone

Live with integrity at home

Wednesday 21st August 2024

‘But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.’ Genesis 19:14 NKJV

Make your life an open book. Establish a system of values against which all of life is judged. Walk with God; maintain your integrity at school, work and at home, and you will make the right choice every time. Lot failed to do this, and it cost him dearly. ‘So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law … and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking’ (Genesis 19:14 NKJV). When you lose your integrity, you lose your credibility. It’s part of a parent’s role to teach integrity through their actions, not their words.

The benefit of being taught integrity helps you show respect to others. You make good decisions about the people you choose to hang around with, you get to know someone you’re dating to ensure they hold the same values as you, and you make a commitment to wisely choose what you will watch on TV and who you engage with on the internet. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be fun to be around. Show your fun side. Don’t get so hung up with making a good impression of your Christian values that you become critical or judgemental. ‘A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.’ (Proverbs 15:13 CSB). The point is, if you ‘talk the talk’, be sure you ‘walk the walk’. Lot tried to warn his family, ‘But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.’ (Genesis 19:14 NKJV). Was Lot too busy making a living to teach his family what mattered most in life? Did he say one thing and do another? We don’t know. But any way you look at it, his loss was tragic. The truth is that your integrity, or the lack of it, will have consequences not only in your own life but also in the lives of your loved ones.

SoulFood: 2 Chr 8-11 Luke 15:1-10 Ps 119:89-96 Pro 21:20-23