Joyce Meyer - Integrity - Part 2

TOPICS: Integrity

The Bible says that we are Christ's ambassadors, and that he is making his appeal to the world through us. Be an excellent person. Mediocre is halfway between success and failure. Jesus said, if you're lukewarm... I'd rather you be hot or cold. "If you're lukewarm, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth". Man, that don't sound good. He says, if you're not going to be red-hot on-fire, I'd rather you just be ice cold. Just either do it or forget it. Amen? Let me tell you something. Christianity is not for sissies. I mean, now, you can go to church every week, but I'm talkin' about if you're gonna be a real, dedicated, full-on, committed, surrendered believer it's not gonna be all that easy all the time.

You're gonna be tested. The enemy's gonna come against you. There's gonna be people that are not gonna like you. There's gonna be people that gossip about you. But, oh, you're gonna be so happy, so peaceful, and they're gonna be jealous of your life. The Bible says, an excellent man chooses excellent friends. Do you know that the people you hang around with are having an influence on you? Don't stay away from every unbeliever but make sure that you're affecting them and they're not infecting you. I always wish I had a lot longer than I do, but. Things the Bible says, don't hang around with an angry person. Avoid excessive talkers. I got about six scriptures on that, but I'm just gonna read you one.

Proverbs 18:2: "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion". So, I'm gonna say something to you. I'm gonna smile. I'm gonna be really, really nice. Mind your own business. You will save yourself so much agony if you just stay out of everybody else's stuff. You got enough of your own. You don't need to get into theirs. You're workin' your heads. Stay away from drunkards and gluttons. Paul said, "I buffet my body". He didn't say I Buffet my body. Be the best, make a decision today, you're gonna be the best person you can be. Be the best that you can be. Do your duty. The Bible talks a lot about duty.

Do you know that if you have elderly parents and you never go see them? Shame on you. "Well, they didn't treat me right, when I was growing up". Well, mine didn't either. And God told me to take care of them till they died. And I thought it was the most unfair thing. But I can tell you, it was one of the most powerful things that I ever did. And I believe that with all my heart. You call your parents. You make sure that they have their needs met, whether they treated you good or they didn't. You still do it because you do it for God. Amen? You take care of your grandparents. The Bible says that "Anybody who doesn't provide for their own relatives is worse than an unbeliever".

Now, you can go home this afternoon and call mom and dad. And a lot of you probably do very well in that area. But there's people who don't. Ok, integrity. Do you know that I could take a camera, we call 'em man on the street interviews, I could take a camera crew and go out on the street, and I could ask a hundred people: what is integrity? And I would be blessed if I would find ten of them that could tell me. Most people don't even know what it is. And I'm just gonna give you the simplest definition. It's to have a strong moral code that you live by. In other words, you have things that you're not gonna do and things that you're gonna do. You're not gonna lie. You're going to keep your word. You're not ever gonna take anything that doesn't belong to you. When you make a commitment, you're always gonna keep your commitments.

The Bible says, "Swear to your own hurt and change not". Wonder how many people you've told, "I'll call you back". If you've told somebody you're gonna call 'em back, then you need to call them back. Otherwise, you're not being honest. I've learned, I don't, you know, we just like to talk. "Oh, you know, we should get together and go to lunch". And, you no more intend to go to lunch with them than a man on the moon. You don't even like 'em. I don't do that anymore because God expects me to do what I say I'm going to do. I have one thing. I'm not brilliant. I'm anointed, and I want to keep that anointing, I've gotta live right. And I have a reverential fear and awe of God, which the Bible says is the "Beginning of knowledge and wisdom". I'm not afraid he's gonna hurt me. But I know that he's powerful. And I know that he gives, and he also can take away.

And I do everything I can to protect the anointing that's on my life because I know that's the one thing that I have that causes people to listen to me. It's the one thing I have that makes what we do a success. I don't sing. I don't play musical instruments. I don't have anything to impress anybody. I have God's anointing. And that's worth more to me than anything else. There again, a lot of people don't even know what the anointing is anymore. It's God's presence and power on your life. Wow. There's something that I'm believing for, and I have been for 45 years and don't intend to quit. In Psalm 107:20, it says, "He sends his word and heals them".

And I am believing that as I preach and teach that people will be healed physically, delivered, set free. I got a great testimony last week and it just encouraged me to keep praying. This man said that he told somebody else, and somebody told my son. His wife had been just fine, and for some reason, she got depressed, they never did know why. Seriously depressed, and for three months, she just laid on the couch. Nothing was helping her. No medicine was helping her. She just was deeply depressed. My TV program came on one day. She said she looked at it and immediately got up and was fine after that. She said, "I don't even know what she said". And that's what I want. I want that anointing to break the yoke of bondage off of people. You know why?

I want God to get all the credit. I want things to happen that people know was God, not a person. He deserves all the glory. Keep your word. If you sign up to be at a workday at church, show up. Call people back. Don't call in sick at work if you're not sick. Not unless you'd like to get sick. If you commit to support a missionary, support 'em. If you commit to partner with a ministry, do it. And if you get to the point where you don't wanna do it anymore, then call them and let 'em know that God's leading you in another direction. There's no problem with that. But don't just dump 'em. We support hundreds of ministries. And any time we decide not to support somebody that we've supported for a long time, we always write them and give them one year, so they can make other plans. We don't just yank the rug out from under them.

If you make a pledge to a building program, keep it. Do what you say you're gonna do. There's so many good character traits of a man or a woman of integrity. But I just wanna read you a couple of things, and then I gotta quit. I said this last night, but how many pens, pencils, rubber bands, paper clips and notepads do you have in your house that you've taken home from work? Don't sit there and try to look innocent. "Well, they don't pay me enough, anyway". That has got nothing at all to do with it. What do you do when you get home and notice that somebody didn't charge you enough? You go back and tell them, "I wanna give you some more of my money," or do you just say, "Oh, God blessed me".

I was looking at a pair of shoes and a purse in a store, and I finally decided I was gonna buy the shoes, but I was not gonna buy the purse. The clerk accidentally stuck the purse in the bag anyway and didn't charge me for it. And I got home, and I knew. I didn't have to have a prophecy, a prayer meeting. I knew. "Now, God, do you really want me to take this back"? No, I knew, "Just take it back". So, I had to use my gas, my time. Go back and cover his mistake. But that put a smile on God's face.

Ginger: You know, there are some words or some phrases that are sometimes very difficult to say and yet very important to say. So, I thought we might throw back and forth some of those things. Different things are going to be difficult for other people and you know, maybe not for me, but for you, vice versa. But there are so many important phrases that we tend to not say because they're too hard. So, just throwing out some of those. For instance, "I'm sorry" or "I forgive you". So, what are some of those things that you see as really important but don't always just roll off the tongue?

Joyce: One that I was just thinking of is, "Would you help me"?

Ginger: Oh, that's such a good one.

Joyce: You know, so many...

Ginger: I'm bad at that.

Joyce: Yeah, so many people are very independent. And God wants us to be dependent on him. And even God don't help us if we don't ask.

Ginger: Did you have to just jump right in and start with my hot button?

Joyce: You know, I think frequently, about "You have not because you ask not". And I was thinking this morning about the scripture that says, it was talking about prayer and to ask, and it says, God knows what we need before we ask, but he still tells us to ask. Now, isn't that interesting? That he knows what we need before we ask but we still need to ask.

Ginger: Why is that?

Joyce: I don't know if it's just a...

Ginger: I think it humbles me. I think that's part of it for me.

Joyce: Yeah, it humbles me, but I think it's just a respect thing, you know. I might have the ability to help you, but I probably wouldn't if you didn't ask me to. You know, there's so many things that you can get from God if you ask, but you just need to ask. And I do think it has something to do with humility. And it's also voicing that dependance on another person. But some people just won't ask for help.

Ginger: It's hard to ask for help from other people.

Joyce: Yeah, but, you know, it gets easier, when you begin to figure out that you're probably just gonna be weary, and worn out, and tired all the time, unless you learn how to ask for help. It's important to do it the proper way, "Would you please help me"? "Thank you for helping me". You know, there are so many people that God sends to our life to help us, but then even if we're willing to take help, we end up taking advantage of them. And we end up then expecting something that started out to be a gift. And so, maybe, "Thank you" is hard for some people to say. I don't know. But I know that not enough people say it.

Ginger: It's not said enough.

Joyce: It's not said enough. You can't, you know, the Bible says be thankful and say so. And a lot of all of these things are pride. You know, "I'm sorry". One that's really hard is "I was wrong". "I was wrong," boy, I remember when that was so hard for me. These things aren't anymore because I've learned that I only hurt myself when I refuse to say them. And the Bible says to "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due time he will exalt you". And so, we need to walk before God with humility. And if he says or shows you in your heart, you know, "You're wrong in this situation," the best thing to do is just go to the person right away and say, "You know what? I'm sorry. I was wrong".

Ginger: Yeah, you're right. And it makes such a difference for you and for that other person. That's something that I had a really hard time with, especially, you know, when I was younger. And I've learned that it opens doors for relationship. And even with your children, to tell your children when you're wrong. And even, I've found even just to say, to have enough humility, even when I think I'm right to say, "I could be wrong". Cuz there is that possibility, that I could be wrong.

Joyce: "I think I'm right, but I could be wrong".

Ginger: Exactly. And so, those things make a difference.

Joyce: You know, I formed a habit a long time ago, I don't have to do this much anymore, thankfully, because we have so many other layers of management. But in the beginning, with the ministry, any correction that ever needed to be done with anybody, I was the one who had to do it. And I learned that if I would start by telling somebody something that I had done wrong. You know, "I've had plenty of problems myself. I've done this wrong, that wrong, you know, but there is something I need to talk to you about". It's so much easier for them to take it if they know you're not just saying, "You, you, you, you, you," but we all do this. So, here again, we see that if you move into a difficult situation with some humility, or you start with some compliments, it's much easier for people to take. And I think when something is that hard for us to say, we need to ask ourselves why, or ask God, "Why is it so hard for me to do this"? And I think it will probably almost always come down to a situation of pride.

Ginger: What about the words: "I love you"? Those can be really hard for some people to say, especially, if they've been hurt along the way.

Joyce: If it's coming, if you're a rejection-based person, it's very difficult to say "I love you" because you're afraid you won't hear it back. I mean, Dave was absolutely a miracle in my life because when he told me he loved you, he loved me, and asked me to marry him, I don't even think I said it back, because I didn't even really know what love was. I'd been hurt so bad. And I was definitely dealing with a root of rejection in my life. And when you have a root of insecurity, or rejection in your life, everything is colored by that in some way, shape, or form. And it is very difficult for you to say even nice things to people because you're afraid they'll deflect them. And, you know, I can think of a couple of people that, I mean, I love to give. That's one of the gifts that Paul talks about. Some people are givers. And that is a gift that God has given me even when I was a kid before I understood the Word of God. I love to surprise people and do things for people. And there's a couple of people I can think of that maybe, I'll try to give them something like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't do that". And I've told 'em, please don't do that. All you need to do is say, that, you know, "Thank you. That's really very nice". So, even that is like, you don't need to do that. I said to this one guy, one time, I said, "Let me ask you a question. Do you pray for God to bless you"? "Oh, yeah. All the time". And I said, "Well, then, why is it that every time I try, you push it off"? So, here again, I think asking ourselves, "Why do i", you can get a lot...

Ginger: That's a great question.

Joyce: You can get a lot of great answers from God if you say "Why". "Why do I feel like that"?

Ginger: You know, tim told me he loved me, for, I don't know, maybe six months. And I would just say "Thank you" every time. But he was so wonderful about it. There was, no, you know, "I'm doing this because I want it back". It was a genuine "I love you" whether you respond to me in the way that I hope you will or not. And that said so much to me. He really won me over. And that's how God is in our lives. He keeps saying, "I love you," even when we're not there yet. So, that's so beautiful.

Joyce: My husband definitely is a man who loves unconditionally. And I have to say that I still marvel at it because I can still have a little, smart mouth once in a while.

Ginger: What?!

Joyce: What! I know that's hard to believe, but see, that was hard for me to say. But he just, I mean, now, sometimes he'll say, you know, he might say something back. But most of the time he'll just go on loving me, like I didn't say anything. And it really does amaze me, you know, how he loves so unconditionally. And so, if a person can do that to any degree, just imagine, I mean, just imagine what all God puts up with.

Ginger: Oh, I can't even.

Joyce: But I wanna go back to this asking God why again. Because like, one night, I remember, I wasn't sleeping good. I mean, I just wasn't sleeping. I mean, I might fall asleep a little bit and then I'd wake up. Well, finally, about 3 o'clock in the morning or four, I said to God, "Why am I not sleeping"? And immediately, he brought something to my attention that I had done the day before that had really hurt somebody. And I needed, not only to repent to God, but I needed to, as soon as it got early enough to do so, I needed to call them and tell them I was sorry. And then, I went to sleep.

Ginger: Wow.

Joyce: But if I wouldn't have asked God why, I don't know, I might still be awake. You know, so, that's something I really wanna encourage people to do before we're finished here today, is if you're having, or, you know, like, if every time you see somebody, you get this icky feeling or you don't wanna be around 'em and you, ask God why. "Why do I respond this way to this person"? You know, like my dad's personality, I didn't like it. You know he was very aggressive and controlling, and smart mouthed and mean, and, you know, boy, any time I would get around anybody that had a personality even similar to his, I just did not like 'em. And there's even like characters in TV shows that I have not been able to watch because they're just like smart mouth all the time. And so, we need to know ourselves better. And we need to admit to God and to ourselves, the areas where we have weakness and ask God to strengthen us in those areas. But I will warn people, ahead of time, the only way you get over something is by having to deal with it. So, if you ask God to help you with pride, you're going to have more instances of having to humble yourself.

Ginger: That's right, yeah.

Joyce: And if you ask God to help you with patience, you're gonna have more instances where you're going to need to use patience, but.

Ginger: I think that's so good.

Joyce: I think the real key today, is like, ask God why.

Ginger: "Why is it hard for me to say congratulations to that person? What is it that, you know, that they have that I think I should have instead"? Or "Why can I not say 'no' when I need to? Where am I getting my fulfillment? Do I not want to let, you know, disappoint people"? That's such a good idea.

Joyce: You know, I caught myself, one time. I saw this woman and she was gonna be in my life for a little while. And she was very, very beautiful. And just had amazing hair.

Ginger: Is this a story about me, Joyce?

Joyce: It is, Ginger.

Ginger: No, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Joyce: And she had this wonderful figure. And just, I looked at her and I thought, "I'm not gonna like her". And then, I said to God, "Now, why in the world would I think, I'm not gonna like her. I don't even know her". And he said, "Because she's so beautiful". So, isn't it amazing how just somebody's attractiveness, if we think they look better than us, can cause us not to like them? And so...

Ginger: But when you asked that and got an answer, you had to deal with it.

Joyce: Well, then I was able to deal with it. Because I thought, "Well, that's ridiculous". You know, I'm not, that spiritually immature that I'm gonna dislike somebody just because they're pretty.

Ginger: And you knew what to do.

Joyce: And I knew what to do. So, that asking God why has been extremely helpful to me. But I do wanna warn you, if you ask God why, he will tell you. And you may not like everything that he says, but I think it's one of the keys, many times you can't be free from something just by praying about it. You have to know what the root is behind it so you can let God deal with that.

Ginger: And that really is the key behind all of this, isn't it?

Joyce: It really is.

Ginger: It's freedom.

Joyce: It's freedom, amen.