Identity and integrity are closely related concepts. How do you understand their relationships and distinctions? What does each concept mean to you?
Identity defines who you are as a person. Integrity is something you choose to be. If you decide to live with discernment and high morals, your choices in life will reflect your high standards. Thus, you (your identify) will become a person with integrity and someone to be trusted. As a teacher and a person, I want to be an example to my students and show them that it is important to live with high values and integrity. My students are at a very impressionable age (10-13) and they need to have several good examples in their lives. Some, however, do not have very many adults who are good examples so it is even more crucial that I portray what it means to live with integrity. In addition, I cannot just portray what it means to live with integrity during class. Integrity must be imbedded into who I am as a person. My identity should equal integrity. If I do not exhibit integrity in all aspects of my life then I am not a women of integrity, I am living a double life. I desire to be the virtuous woman from Proverbs 31 and live a life with high standards. I desire to be a woman who "speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue" (Proverbs 31:26)
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Faith Integration
"Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O LORD my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave."
The Psalmist requests the Lord to give him an undivided heart so that he can fear his name. In other words, the Psalmist desires to have a heart set completely on the Lord so that he can live a pure life and put the Lord first. With a heart set on the Lord first, a person's life is centered around obeying the Lord and following his will. Since the Lord's love is so great towards his children, we are extremely grateful for Christ's deliverance from sin and know that Christ will always love us (and watch over us). In return, the Psalmist wants to dedicate his life to God.
The Psalmist mentions that he will glorify God with all his heart forever. His "heart" refers to his passions, his hopes and aspirations, and his everyday life responsibilities. The same idea goes for every believer. For myself, my heart is focused on teaching and doing my best to help my students succeed. Over the short period that I've been teaching, I have come to care for each of my students and I desire the very best for them. I want each one to succeed and I want each one to know that I want them to succeed. I know that I am unable to accomplish this great task all by myself. So, at the heart of my life as a teacher, I want God to give me the wisdom and the strength to teach my students so that they can succeed academically and in life in general. At the heart of my life is hope in the Lord that I will also succeed in my goals.
The Psalmist requests the Lord to give him an undivided heart so that he can fear his name. In other words, the Psalmist desires to have a heart set completely on the Lord so that he can live a pure life and put the Lord first. With a heart set on the Lord first, a person's life is centered around obeying the Lord and following his will. Since the Lord's love is so great towards his children, we are extremely grateful for Christ's deliverance from sin and know that Christ will always love us (and watch over us). In return, the Psalmist wants to dedicate his life to God.
The Psalmist mentions that he will glorify God with all his heart forever. His "heart" refers to his passions, his hopes and aspirations, and his everyday life responsibilities. The same idea goes for every believer. For myself, my heart is focused on teaching and doing my best to help my students succeed. Over the short period that I've been teaching, I have come to care for each of my students and I desire the very best for them. I want each one to succeed and I want each one to know that I want them to succeed. I know that I am unable to accomplish this great task all by myself. So, at the heart of my life as a teacher, I want God to give me the wisdom and the strength to teach my students so that they can succeed academically and in life in general. At the heart of my life is hope in the Lord that I will also succeed in my goals.
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