“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. “Proverbs 10:9

As soon as it happened, I knew that I’d made a potentially life-threatening mistake. I panicked. My mind raced through all the complications that my patient would face.

As an anesthetist, mistakes in my world can be devastating.

But at this moment, I chose to keep my mouth shut. There was already enough tension in the room.

I did everything to fix my mistake and didn’t tell anyone. I was embarrassed and didn’t want the consequences of my mistake to be known — I covered it up.

By the grace of God, everything went well. Sure, there were a few bumps, but it didn’t take away from the positive outcome. And no one suspected anything. I told my wife and close doctor friend what had happened in my rattled state. They both said, “You’ll know what to do, Jonathan.”

Well, what I needed to do was not tell a soul. What would people think of me? My reputation would be tarnished. Imagine the paperwork too. I was telling the patient what happened? But, no -everything was fine!

That night, I didn’t sleep a wink, and in the morning, I rationalized again, keeping what happened a secret.

But as I entered my quiet time, the Spirit of Truth convicted me. In the stillness of the moment, these words were placed in my heart,

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

Instantly, I knew what I needed to do. I realized I was more fearful of man than God. And if I wanted to walk with the fearlessness of confidence, the wisest decision was, to tell the truth, and God would take care of the rest.

My admission was met with warmth and concern about my welfare, to my surprise. But, see, mistakes in medicine can be career-ending and exact a heavy mental toll on those involved. But the most significant part of disclosing my mistake was that it strengthened my reputation as a man of integrity, a doctor you could trust.

Because everyone realized that I could have kept my mouth shut, I knew this would have broken my relationship with the Father. In addition, my reputation would have been irreparably damaged should the truth have been uncovered.

As a man, your integrity is everything. 

Integrity is who you are when no one is looking. It takes time to build, one wise decision at a time but can be destroyed if we stray from wisdom.

Wise men do make mistakes. Imperfection is part of us, but our smudges are wiped clean in Christ. The difference between living a double life and integrity is our transparency and honesty.

The wisest decision to make is always the honest one. 

This decision is how to build a life of integrity.

Men of integrity do not fear falling into the consequences of their double lives. And because of this, their wives and children are protected and blessed. They rest in awe and wonder of a life lived well before God. And from this, a beautiful reputation follows.

So, where do we start?

Well, men of integrity pursue wisdom. They know that their true net worth is the wealth that knowledge provides – it is their guide and foundation.

And the best place to start is in the book of Proverbs, allowing the richness of Solomon’s words to bathe over your life and uncover areas of our lives that need the brush of honesty and correction. Remember, we become wise one decision at a time. So start now! God loves you and wants to bring life, prosperity, and honor as you pursue him.

We’d like to thank Dr Jonathan Ramachenderan for his contribution to Uncommen by writing this article. www.thehealthygp.com

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