Integrity is not just the result of making the right choices. It creates a pathway that is marked by our choices to love and honor God.
After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, he was brought to Egypt, where he was purchased as a slave by a man named Potiphar. “The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did (Genesis 39:3). As a result, Joseph was put in charge of Potiphar’s household.
When we think of Potiphar’s wife, we think of a conniving and deceptive woman who wanted to lure Joseph into sexual sin. She was all of that. But what motivated Joseph to flee from her attempts at seduction was Joseph’s love of God. When Potiphar’s wife’s aggression intensified, Joseph reminded her of his trusted relationship to Potiphar and said, “No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” (Genesis 39:9).
“One day, when no one else was around, Joseph went to do his work, and Potiphar’s wife approached him. “She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, ‘Come on, sleep with me!’ Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house” (vs. 11-12).
When Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife’s sexual aggression, he left an article of his clothing behind as he fled from her advances. She concocted a lie about an attempted rape and offered Joseph’s clothing as evidence to support her allegation. She showed Potiphar her proof, and as a result of her false report, Potiphar had Joseph sent to prison.
But the Lord was with Joseph in prison. The Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden, just as He had with Potiphar. Again, Joseph’s integrity was revealed, and he was put in charge of everything in the prison. “The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed” (vs. 23).
After Joseph was brought from prison to interpret Pharaoh’s troubling dreams, his interpretation caused Pharaoh to say, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” (41:38)
Joseph’s integrity would lead him to work for Pharaoh, who would put Joseph in charge of the resources of Egypt. Joseph’s position would lead him to administer Egypt’s resources that would eventually be used to save Joseph’s family from starving in a time of famine.
At the end of Joseph’s story, he finally revealed himself to his brothers, who had sold him into slavery years before. Joseph told his brothers, “It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives” (45:5).
Integrity is not just a personal attribute. It can also preserve and protect our families and even the nation where we live.
The first step onto the path of integrity was to run away from Potiphar’s wife and take another path that honored the Lord. Because Joseph knew God was with him in his life journey, he would never allow any deviation from that path to lead him to compromise his relationship with God.
That is the power of living a life of integrity. It can lead us onto unimagined pathways into new realms of spiritual maturity and authority. Joseph’s first step onto God’s pathway of integrity happened when he said no to Potiphar’s wife and ran away.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by SCY from Pixabay
