Walking in Integrity

King Solomon was an example of a man who walked in integrity, most of the time.

Solomon walked in integrity as a king, as a teacher and sage, and as a spiritual leader.  Solomon was also a married man.  A very married man.  He had 700 wives, along with 300 concubines.  Polygamy was not the problem.  In the ancient world it was considered acceptable for a man to have multiple wives if he could afford them.  For a king, marriage was a means of international diplomacy.  The problem was that Solomon’s foreign wives brought with them their foreign gods.  In his later years he acceded to the requests of his wives and built shrines for these foreign gods, which was a direct violation of God’s commands.  Solomon, in his effort to please his wives, stopped walking in integrity.

Earlier in his reign, Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple.  When the Temple was completed, Solomon dedicated it with a prayer.  In the prayer, Solomon asked God to forgive anyone who prayed toward the Temple and requested forgiveness of sins.

We would like to walk in integrity all the time.  More realistically, we walk in integrity most of the time, slip, repent, and ask God for forgiveness.  Then we get up and starting walking, in integrity, again.