A Sunday School Lesson On Integrity

Here is a Sunday school lesson or Bible study on integrity as found in the Bible.

Walking in Integrity

Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”

When the Bible talks about “walking” it usually means to be in agreement with or to be in step with and in this case of course, it is in walking with integrity which allows us to walk with God.  When “Abimelech king of Gerar took Sarah” (Gen 20:3) “God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife” (Gen 20:4). King Abimelech pleaded with God, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this” (Gen 20:4-5)? Thankfully for Abimelech, God answered “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her” (Gen 20:6). This reveals how even in the ancient world of Abraham’s day, adultery was known to be wrong even among the pagans who knew not God so there was a certain level of integrity in unbelieving people, just like there is today.

Do people have any excuse for committing sexual immorality (Rom 2:14-16)?

Do people actually know better than to do certain sins and yet suppress those feelings (Rom 1:18-20)?

Is integrity important to you?

Preserving Integrity

Psalm 25:11 “May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.”

One thing about integrity is that it never hurt anybody. In fact, a person of integrity will not be involved in scandals, stand before grand juries, and be losing sleep at night but the very reverse might be true for those who don’t walk in integrity. In speaking about God, the psalmist knew that “you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever” (Psalm 41:12). To be set in God’s “presence forever” looks forward to life in the coming kingdom (Rev 21:1-4; Rev 22) and although this side of heaven, we’ll still sin, God’s Spirit will convict us to confess it and in some cases, we’ll hold onto our integrity and do the right thing in the first place.

Have you been negatively impacted by someone with little or no integrity?

Is integrity important in your bank?

How does our integrity cause us to be “preserved” and “upheld?”

Dwelling on Integrity

Psalm 101:2 “I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.”

What I remember of a phrase may be perfectly appropriate for this verse; “you are not what you think you are…what you think, you are!” Paul wrote what we should be thinking about; “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil 4:8). Here’s something “worthy of praise.” It’s called integrity and if we ponder the way that’s blameless, that way surely includes walking “with integrity of heart within” our “house” or, for that matter, anywhere we walk during the day and night.

How can you “ponder” on integrity?

What does it mean to be blameless (2nd Cor 5:21)?

Do you focus on living a life of integrity?

Integrity over Riches

Proverbs 19:1 “Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.”

It seems the idea of “walking” and our way of living is the same as Solomon equates with walking in his or her integrity. Some of the most joyful Christian’s I have met in their homes have some of the fewest of possessions that I know but they don’t base their joy on possessions but on their possession of faith in Christ. They are better off, rich or poor, if they are walking in integrity because “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him” (Prov 20:7). Placed against an either/or case of either being rich or poor, Solomon simply says “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways” (Prov 28:6).

Does this mean if we walk in integrity we’ll be rich?

Why does the word “crooked” come up a lot when it’s about a person with no integrity?

What do you think; does being rich make it hard to have integrity?

Conclusion

I urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of these lessons like the fact that “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them” (Prov 11:3) showing a cause and effect relationship in walking with integrity or not and no matter what things may look like, “Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall” (Prov 28:18).

What is integrity to you?

Why is it important to us and society?

What have you learned about integrity in this lesson?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.