Proverbs 11:3 (NIV)
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Several years ago, a southern governor announced his presidential campaign, which was widely endorsed by conservative Christians. They felt they had their candidate until…news came out about the governor’s year-long affair with a former television reporter from Argentina. It turned out that the conservative governor was leading two lives.

At the time, a liberal columnist named Maureen Dowd jumped on the story. Here’s a part of her piece from The New York Times.

[The Governor] is the self-righteous, Bible-thumping prig who pressed for Bill Clinton’s impeachment; [the Governor’s other side] was the un-self-conscious [womanizer], canoodling with [his lover] in Buenos Aires, throwing caution to the e-winds about their ‘soulmate feel’, her tan lines, her curves…. [The Governor] is the conservative railing against sinners; [the Governor’s other side] sins liberally. [The Governor] opposes gay marriages as a threat to traditional marriage. [The Governor’s other side] thinks nothing of risking his own traditional marriage and celebrates transgressive relationships.

I hate it when I agree with a liberal columnist writing for The New York Times.

Many men and women have been destroyed by living two lives. Here’s how the Proverbs describes a life lived by a double standard.

Proverbs 11:3 (NIV)
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Integrity describes 360-degree wholeness. Wherever you turn—towards God, marriage, work, relationships, community, etc.—there is a consistency, not perfection, but a pattern of obedience. A person with integrity is guided by God’s Word. They desire to do what is right.

That’s why it is so devastating when professing Christians fall in such a hard and public way. Satan laughs. The world mocks. And God mourns. We lose our biblical platform from which to speak with authority. Thank God for his grace to restore…but, by all means, plead with God for his grace to diligently follow him with integrity.

Dear God, I pray with fear and trembling. I am frail and always one stupid step away from destroying my integrity and witness for you. I am thankful for your grace, but, O God, put within me the fear of the consequences you place on sin. Keep me from being destroyed by duplicity.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.