Integrity or Duplicity?
(Prov 11:3 NIV) The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
In this verse Solomon contrasts the integrity of the upright with the duplicity of the unfaithful. As I prayed over this text I sat for a while asking God which way He wanted me to go. There is so much I can say about this text. There is so much that God has said in His Word about integrity, about being faithful, and about the faith-failures that duplicity (or double mindedness) can cause.
Let’s talk about duplicity first. Webster defines duplicity as: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action. This is a person that says one thing in the morning, but then something else it the afternoon. This person is constantly wavering.
There are two categories of people who live this way:
1) those that are trying to do right, but are struggling to stay on course;
2) those that are seeking to be deceitful. The latter purposefully mislead people and believe me, they will reap what they sow.
But there is also a warning here for the former – for those that don’t necessarily speak contradictory on purpose, but who struggle to stay on course. There is even a danger here for them. They speak faith in the morning (in prayer), but they then speak fear, doubt, and unbelief all day long.
They are double minded and their double mindedness will keep them from God’s best. James teaches on this in the first chapter of his letter. He tells us that people that live this way are like waves of the sea. They are up today and down tomorrow, up this week and down next week, maybe even up this morning and down this afternoon.
James said, “A man like that shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord. He can't make up his mind. He can never decide what to do” (1:7,8 NIrV). We are called to live by faith, but to do so we must remain in faith in the space between our prayer and the completion of it.
We shouldn’t allow duplicity, double mindedness, or wavering to keep us in a cycle of fluctuation between faith and fear, belief and doubt, expectation and discouragement.
The other half of this verse deals with the person of integrity. Their spirit, soul, and body are fully integrated. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They have won – and ARE (actively) winning – the inner struggle between faith and fear. They know that they are new creatures (2 Cor 5:7) in Christ and they seek, with their whole heart, to live as such. They make every effort to renew their minds (Rom 12:1,2), so that they can conquer the temptations of the old nature and walk in the purity of their new nature in Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome he vividly explained the struggle between the old and new natures in the seventh chapter (see 7:14-25). But in the eight chapter he tells us that we can win the struggle, that we can walk in the newness of life, that we can be faithful, and that we can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit. He said, “The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you… Our duty is not to live under the control of our sinful nature… Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (8:11-14).
So what does this mean? It means that you have a choice. You can either be the unfaithful or the faithful. You can either walk in duplicity or integrity. You can either be the person who lives like a wave of the sea (wavering) or the person who is like a rock! Take it from me; living in integrity is much better. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct you today; and as He does, trust Him. Be led of the Spirit with bulldog-tenacity! Walk by faith and don’t waiver. Don’t allow fear, doubt or unbelief to get you off course!
Father, I declare, right now, by faith, that I am a person of integrity. I am fully integrated. My spirit, soul and body are in line with each other. I am led of Your Spirit in all ways. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I pray in faith, without a doubt at all, and I remain in faith until I see what I prayed. I refuse to be a person of duplicity. I am a person of integrity and my faithfulness opens the door to Your best in my life! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Prov 11:3 NIV) The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
In this verse Solomon contrasts the integrity of the upright with the duplicity of the unfaithful. As I prayed over this text I sat for a while asking God which way He wanted me to go. There is so much I can say about this text. There is so much that God has said in His Word about integrity, about being faithful, and about the faith-failures that duplicity (or double mindedness) can cause.
Let’s talk about duplicity first. Webster defines duplicity as: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action. This is a person that says one thing in the morning, but then something else it the afternoon. This person is constantly wavering.
There are two categories of people who live this way:
1) those that are trying to do right, but are struggling to stay on course;
2) those that are seeking to be deceitful. The latter purposefully mislead people and believe me, they will reap what they sow.
But there is also a warning here for the former – for those that don’t necessarily speak contradictory on purpose, but who struggle to stay on course. There is even a danger here for them. They speak faith in the morning (in prayer), but they then speak fear, doubt, and unbelief all day long.
They are double minded and their double mindedness will keep them from God’s best. James teaches on this in the first chapter of his letter. He tells us that people that live this way are like waves of the sea. They are up today and down tomorrow, up this week and down next week, maybe even up this morning and down this afternoon.
James said, “A man like that shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord. He can't make up his mind. He can never decide what to do” (1:7,8 NIrV). We are called to live by faith, but to do so we must remain in faith in the space between our prayer and the completion of it.
We shouldn’t allow duplicity, double mindedness, or wavering to keep us in a cycle of fluctuation between faith and fear, belief and doubt, expectation and discouragement.
The other half of this verse deals with the person of integrity. Their spirit, soul, and body are fully integrated. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. They have won – and ARE (actively) winning – the inner struggle between faith and fear. They know that they are new creatures (2 Cor 5:7) in Christ and they seek, with their whole heart, to live as such. They make every effort to renew their minds (Rom 12:1,2), so that they can conquer the temptations of the old nature and walk in the purity of their new nature in Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome he vividly explained the struggle between the old and new natures in the seventh chapter (see 7:14-25). But in the eight chapter he tells us that we can win the struggle, that we can walk in the newness of life, that we can be faithful, and that we can do it through the power of the Holy Spirit. He said, “The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you… Our duty is not to live under the control of our sinful nature… Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (8:11-14).
So what does this mean? It means that you have a choice. You can either be the unfaithful or the faithful. You can either walk in duplicity or integrity. You can either be the person who lives like a wave of the sea (wavering) or the person who is like a rock! Take it from me; living in integrity is much better. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct you today; and as He does, trust Him. Be led of the Spirit with bulldog-tenacity! Walk by faith and don’t waiver. Don’t allow fear, doubt or unbelief to get you off course!
Father, I declare, right now, by faith, that I am a person of integrity. I am fully integrated. My spirit, soul and body are in line with each other. I am led of Your Spirit in all ways. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I pray in faith, without a doubt at all, and I remain in faith until I see what I prayed. I refuse to be a person of duplicity. I am a person of integrity and my faithfulness opens the door to Your best in my life! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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