The Hebrew word muna translated integrity has sixteen references in the Old Testament. The word is not given in Greek in the New Testament but when faithfulness is used that means integrity. The word means faithfulness, trustworthiness, steadfastness, uprightness and honesty. It is sometimes pictured as a straight path along which one should walk, veering not to the right or to the left. We find the term integrity used in Genesis 20:5-6 of Abimelech, King of Grerar, to whom Abraham gave Sarah, claiming she was his sister. But in a dream Abimelech learned the truth of Sarah’s relationship to Abraham and he restored her to her husband without taking her into his harem. God commended the king for his integrity. Following the dedication of the Temple built by Solomon, the Lord appeared to Solomon to make a covenant with him. If Solomon would walk in integrity and keep God’s commandments, statutes and judgments, the throne would be established in the line of David as God had promised. God commended Job’s integrity. Job’s wife asked him if he would hold on to his integrity, even after he had lost everything. In defending himself against his friends who thought Job’s dilemma had been brought on by disobedience to God, Job defended himself, affirming that he, indeed, was a man of integrity. In the Psalms and in Proverbs, the righteous is seen as walking in integrity. To walk in integrity is the right path for the Christian. There should be no question of “Should I walk uprightly?” The conclusion each Christian should reach is “I will walk in integrity.”
Corrie ten Boom led a life of immense integrity. Born in Holland on April 15. 1892 to Casper and Cor ten Boom, Corrie ten Boom was destined to save the lives of some 800 Jews during World War II. The ten Boom family members were Christians. Her father, who had inherited his father’s watchmaking shop in Haarlem provided in a secretly-built “Hiding Place” in the family’s living quarters above his watch shop a place of concealment for Jews escaping from the Germans. Corrie (who had become the first certified woman watchmaker in Holland) and her family were faithful in this dangerous mission. On February 28, 1944, her father, her sister Betsie and Corrie were arrested. Her father died soon in a hospital and was given a pauper’s burial. Betsie and Corrie were sent on to Ravensbruck Prison in Germany where they had to toil hard and live in terrible vermin-infested conditions with little food. They got a group together after roll call nearly every night and studied the Bible and prayed together. Betsie died in prison. Through a clerical error, Corrie ten Boom was released on Christmas Day, 1944, went on a train to Berlin, and miraculously got back to her home in Holland. She began a rehabilitation home for released prisoners and helped homeless children. In 1946, she came to the United States, speaking in many churches, extending her ministry through 60 countries. She wrote several books, the most famous of which was The Hiding Place. In 1978 due to poor health she gave up traveling and speaking. She lived in California where she died on her birthday in 1983. The Jews held that dying on one’s birthday showed God’s favor and a life lived in integrity. One of her favorite sayings was, “God does not have problems, only plans.” Her life constantly followed the paths of integrity and she became an inspiration for all who heard her speak and read her books.
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