When Integrity Tests Us
11/4/2025
Melinda Gore
“Integrity and uprightness will watch over me, because my hope is in you.”
- Psalm 25:21
Integrity is often tested when no one else is watching. It’s not about doing what’s right because of fear of being caught, but because we want to honor God, even when the “wrong” way looks easier, faster, or even “justifiable.”
When my husband and I were in the process of adopting our daughter in Bolivia, we had friends, church members, and even professionals who suggested a quicker route. They said we could simply pay a doctor to sign a false birth certificate stating I had given birth to her. It would save us years of waiting, legal fees, and paperwork. Some said, “It’s for a good cause. You’re giving her a family. The end justifies the means.”
At that time, I was pregnant and due to give birth around the same time her birth mother gave birth. Saying I had given birth to her would have been believable. But we knew that taking that path would be dishonest and compromise the very values we claim to live by and the values we wanted to raise our daughter with. So, we chose the long, hard, honest way, trusting that God would honor obedience. Three years later, without us ever expressing a financial need, God put it on someone’s heart to cover the entire cost of the adoption.
There have been other decisions we’ve had to make in our personal lives, in ministry, and even in our church that were just flat out hard to make, decisions that required us to humble ourselves, choose truth, and not allow a desire to hide things to take root. These moments aren’t easy, but they matter. They reflect who we are and set the standard of who we are becoming.
Integrity isn’t formed in grand moments but in the small decisions: the stop signs we roll through, the “white lies” we tell to protect ourselves, the stories we tweak to sound a little better, or the times we conveniently omit details to win an argument. These are not just moral slip-ups. They are spiritual exercises that shape our character and reveal our hearts. Every time we choose truth over convenience, humility over ego, obedience over self-justification, we strengthen our commitment to godliness. But when we excuse “minor” wrongs, we dull our sensitivity to sin and risk becoming comfortable with compromise.
Integrity matters because God cares about who we are becoming, not just what we accomplish. He desires that we become like Him. He wants truth in our inward being (Psalm 51:6). This means inviting Him daily to search our hearts, renew our minds, and shape us into people who reflect His holiness. It means choosing what is right, even when it costs us something, even when others think we are being extreme, or when our decisions to act with integrity shine a light on someone else’s lack of honesty and make relationships uncomfortable.
Let’s not strive to appear good, but to be good, because our Father delights in hearts that are pure, honest, and devoted to Him. Our hope is in Christ, who gives us the strength to live faithfully.
Prayer:
Lord, give us hearts that value integrity over convenience. Help us to walk in truth, even when it costs time, comfort, or reputation. Teach us to see the small moments as opportunities to honor You and strengthen our character. We want our lives, both seen and unseen, to bring You glory.
Melinda was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She has been married to Romon for 18 years and is a VERY proud mother of three beautiful children. For the past 16 years, she has served as a missionary alongside her husband in Bolivia, building and finding any way possible to love others and glorify Christ in her heart, home, ministry, and life.