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By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

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Defining Integrity

“Integrity is what you are when no one is looking. It’s what you are in the drawers, behind the scenes, when the doors are closed and the shades are drawn. It’s who you are that stands out.”

From Mentee to Mentor

“All of our lives we need mentors, especially when we’re younger, but we need them all our lives. But there’s something great about knowing God has turned you in such a way that you have, without even planning it, you become a mentor. People want to be around you. Integrity creates that.”

Commit Yourself to Virtue

“Year after year, the one who commits himself or herself to the virtues that spell out integrity can rest assured those qualities are most beneficial as they take shape within. You become the message.”

What it Can Look Like to Have Integrity

“Micah put it in simple terms: ‘To do what is right, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.’ That’s integrity. It means you don’t take what isn’t yours. You don’t steal. It means you will not commit plagiarism when there’s no one else to check your work, and you’re preaching sermons, and the week has run its course, and you feel dry, and you’re tempted to reach down and take somebody else’s work. It means you will keep your word, and when you make a promise, you won’t break it. It means when you do what’s wrong, you say it was wrong, and you don’t look for somebody to blame. You don’t rationalize.”

Integrity Keeps You Strong

“Ten, fifteen years from now, if the Lord tarries, you could be in the middle of the most difficult situation. It will be your integrity, which includes a faithful and consistent and authentic walk with the Lord Jesus Christ that will hold you together, keep you strong.”

Additional Resources

First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.

Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.

Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your finger tips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.

Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.

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