Pastor Kevin Sanders

Today I spoke to some STI Recto students about becoming people who have high ethical standards–people of integrity. Isn’t this a fine looking group of young people? I started by telling them a few benefits of a life of integrity:

It glorifies God
Making honest, ethical decisions will glorify God–this is something that God can take pleasure in. The purpose of our lives should be to live for God. It is impossible to do this without being a person of character integrity.

It gives you a clear conscience
We have to live with the decisions we make. If you are like me, it is hard to sleep knowing that you’ve done something wrong. If we have integrity we can live with a clear conscience. We also don’t have to worry about someone finding out who we really are, because we can be authentic people.

It gives you a good reputation
None of us would want the word “liar” or “cheater” written on our tombstone. We build our character and our reputation every day by our actions. We should strive to be someone that God, our family and our friends could be proud of.

It gives you good relationships with others
Relationships are built on trust. People will not trust you if they know your character is seriously flawed. To be trusted, you have to be trustworthy. To be trustworthy, you must be a person of integrity.

Malachi 1:6-8

6The LORD Almighty says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. I am your father and master, but where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have despised my name!

“But you ask, `How have we ever despised your name?’
7″You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.
“Then you ask, `How have we defiled the sacrifices?’

“You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect. 8When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the LORD Almighty.

The Old Testament law required that animals sacrificed to God be free of blemish or defects (Leviticus 22:18-23). The reason for this was simple—GOD DESERVES OUR BEST!

God used Malachi to warn the people against offering “leftovers” to God. In verse 6, God states that we give certain devotion to fathers or bosses here in this world. We do this naturally without complaining. Would any of us, for example, give our fathers a broken birthday present? Of course not!

In verse 8, God asks the people if they would dare give a diseased offering to a governor. I’ve had the honor of speaking to many groups of students. Sometimes I am given a gift after a speaking engagement. One thing I can always be sure of—the gift will be BRAND NEW. No matter what the gift is, I know that anyone would be embarrassed to offer me a used gift. No one would offer me an old used t-shirt with holes in it—how embarrassing that would be!

We are often guilty, however, of offering “leftovers” to God. This is especially true in how we use our time. Think about the time we dedicate to God. Many people tell me that they only pray before they go to sleep. Maybe that is a good time to pray, but is that the only part of your day you are willing to give to God? Would you only give your barkada this amount of time? Would you only be willing to give your boyfriend/girlfriend five minutes before you sleep?

The Bible says that God gave his best for us:
Romans 8:32
Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?

I hope and pray that we will be willing to give our best for Him.

Blessings,
Kuya Kevin