AVOID THE SEDUCTION OF COMPROMISE

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD.  Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths. You have charged us to keep Your commandments carefully.”—Psalm  119:1-4 (NLT)

  

Recently, during our Day of Prayer for America, and the Elections, I asked a young man, whom I knew walked in integrity, to lead us in prayer for a specific prayer point— Integrity of America. By the unction of the Holy Spirit, one of the things that he prayed was that those who held the office would not compromise, or compromise the government office that he or she held or would fill.

 

As an individual, when we compromise we are agreeing to accept less than what we originally wanted; divided—not whole or complete.  On the other hand, integrity is the state of being complete—undivided.  To understand the difference between compromise and integrity, think of it like this:  Comprise is giving up your core beliefs or convictions to get what you want or what someone else tells you that you have need of.  Integrity is taking a stand for what you believe and not yielding to the pressure of opposition or seduction.  Seduction leads people astray, or it can tempt, persuade or attract.  Seduction is deceptive and causes people to do things—compromise values and beliefs. 

 

There are many ways that the Church is being seduced into compromising its core beliefs.  One of the main ways this happens in the believer’s life is when he or she does not respect God’s word.  There is no respect for truth.  If we are to avoid compromise we have to respect God’s word as His word.  It is indestructible.  He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31).  His word is pure, “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6). 

 

I want to encourage you today, to determine not to compromise.  Avoiding anything wrong requires determination.  Until you make up your MIND that you will respect God’s word at all times and at all cost, you will be in danger of compromise.  The apostle Paul did not give in “not even for an hour” (Galatians 2:5).  Jesus was tempted—seduced to compromise; but in each incident He avoided compromise by responding with scripture.  As a Christian we are disciples of Christ, Matthew 4:1-11 gives to us the KEY to avoiding compromise in our lives—appeal to God’s word in all that we do. 

 

In order to stand firm against compromise, we must make God’s Word the standard for our conduct.  We are then able to respond in integrity (the truth of God’s word) when the seduction of compromise comes seeking to devour our values and beliefs.

 

Prayer—Father I thank You for opening my spiritual eyes to see the seduction of compromise and I ask You to forgive me the times when I have compromised my values and beliefs.  Today, with Your help I purpose to not compromise my godly values and beliefs in Jesus Name. Amen.