Would you be voted off the island?

If your life and relationships were decided at the voting booth, would your family want you to run for another term – or would they vote you out?

Would your boss cast his or her vote to keep funding your position? Would your neighbors petition to have your property line rezoned?

Anyone can make a bunch of promises. But can those who depend on you feel confident you’ll get the job done? Can they rely on you to tell the truth? To take responsibility for your actions?

Proverbs 11:3 (ESV) says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”

Do you struggle with integrity? Does your heart beat faster when your boss asks you to verify your expense account?

Do you scramble to explain to your family why you came home late from work? Do you have trouble keeping your lies straight?

When you consider the brevity of your life and how your choices affect those closest to you, integrity becomes all the more important. If integrity doesn’t guide you, your life begins to unravel as people lose confidence in you. Through the years, your dishonesty shatters dreams, jeopardizes jobs and damages families.

Is this how you want your story to end? Is this what you want to happen to your family?

God’s Word teaches us how to live honestly and treat others honorably. When you allow His grace to transform your heart, He empowers you to repent – and to ask for forgiveness from Him and from those you’ve deceived.

But the hard truth remains: once you’ve established yourself as a deceptive person, restoring your family and friends’ trust will be a long, tough journey – for you and those who once believed in you. While you repair your reputation, ask God to help you resist getting angry when others doubt your newfound honesty. (Remember, your family hates distrusting you even more than you hate being mistrusted.) Give them the time they need to see you’ve really changed.

Determine to do whatever it takes to be a person of your word. Consider joining a Bible study, getting counseling and being accountable to a trusted confidant.

Keep your “campaign” promises. Conduct yourself with integrity. Then you’ll have no problem winning the popular vote from your most loyal supporters – your family and friends.

Sheryl H. Boldt, a Franklin County resident, is a faith columnist and the author of the blog www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. You can reach her at SherylHBoldt@gmail.com.