The Need for Integrity

1 Thessalonians 2:3

Leaders with power and brains are common. So are leaders with riches and popularity. But a competent leader full of integrity and skill, coupled with sincerity, is rare indeed.

Deception creates suspicion. Once the leader’s followers begin to suspect motives or find that what is said publicly is denied privately, the thin wire of respect that holds everything in place snaps. Confidence drains away. All of us have suffered disappointment and no little fear as we watched various leaders’ secret lives exposed to the public in the last several years. With each revelation of lies, our respect and confidence in our leaders dwindled.

The late President Dwight Eisenhower stated his opinion with dogmatism: “The supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If his associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other.”

I can think of few ingredients more foundational to being a good leader than knowing oneself—and accepting oneself—and feeling secure about oneself inside one’s own skin.

“The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”
—Dwight D. Eisenhower

To be a good leader, you must know and accept yourself and feel secure inside your own skin.

Charles R. Swindoll Tweet This

Taken from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com

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Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading programme in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.

పాస్టర్ చార్లెస్ ఆర్. స్విండాల్ దేవుని వాక్యాన్ని నిర్దిష్టంగా, ఆచరణాత్మకంగా బోధించడానికి మరియు అన్వయించడానికి తన జీవితాన్ని అంకితం చేశారు. ఆయన టెక్సాస్‌లోని ఫ్రిస్కోలోని స్టోన్‌బ్రయర్ కమ్యూనిటీ చర్చి వ్యవస్థాపక కాపరియై ఉన్నారు, అయితే చక్ యొక్క శ్రోతలు స్థానిక సంఘ పరిధి దాటి వ్యాపించి ఉన్నారు. 1979 నుండి క్రైస్తవ ప్రసరణలో ప్రముఖ కార్యక్రమంగా, ఇన్‌సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా ప్రసారమవుతోంది. డల్లాస్ థియోలాజికల్ సెమినరీకి ప్రెసిడెంటుగా, అలాగే ఇప్పుడు ఛాన్సిలర్ ఎమెరిటస్‌గా చక్ యొక్క నాయకత్వం క్రొత్త తరం స్త్రీపురుషులను పరిచర్య కొరకు సిద్ధపరచడంలో సహాయపడింది.