True at All Times

In this recent general conference talk, Elder Jack N. Gerard spoke about the Christlike attribute of integrity. He taught, “Jesus Christ is our Exemplar. Living a life of integrity requires us to be true to God, to each other, and to our divine identity. Integrity flows from the first great commandment to love God. Because you love God, you are true to Him at all times. You understand that there is right and wrong and there is absolute truth—God’s truth. Integrity means we do not lower our standards or behavior to impress or to be accepted by others. You ‘do what is right’ and ‘let the consequence follow.’” To live with integrity, we are true first to God, caring more about what He thinks of us than how others around us will judge us. Then with our devotion to God established, we also strive to be true to others and live in honesty and in consistency with our beliefs as we interact with those around us. Elder Gerard added, “Saying we have integrity is insufficient if our actions are inconsistent with our words…. Acting with integrity builds faith and trust and reassures others that we seek only to do the will of the Lord.” Ultimately, we want to be like the stripling warriors who were described this way: “They were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20). True at all times—true to ourselves, true to God, true to those we love--that is how we want live. Then, like those sons of Helaman, we will go forward in life without fear of even the most dangerous things—the stripling warriors “never had fought, yet they did not fear death” because they were totally true to God and their purpose (Alma 56:47). Knowing that we are true to our divine identity gives us courage to go forward with faith and without the fear that dishonesty and a lack of integrity inevitably brings.  

Elder Gerard also highlighted this fact: “Recent revisions to the Preach My Gospel missionary manual notably added integrity as a Christlike attribute.” I love its description of what integrity is: “When you have integrity, you understand that there is right and wrong and that there is absolute truth—God’s truth. You use your agency to choose according to God’s truth, and you promptly repent when you do not. What you choose to think—and what you do when you believe no one is watching—is a strong measure of your integrity.” That is, I believe, a powerful test: how do we think and act in private when we are certain no one will know? If we are not true to ourselves then, we are lacking in integrity. The manual continues, “Integrity means you do not lower your standards or behavior so you can impress or be accepted by others. You do what is right even when others scoff at your desire to be true to God (see 1 Nephi 8:24–28). You live with honor in all environments, including how you represent yourself online.” So much of the world hides behind their anonymous profile online, saying and doing things they would never say or do if it were in a public setting where people would see them. As Polonius said to Laertes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” What powerful counsel to us all! The Savior posed a similarly potent question this way: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) We must not exchange our integrity for our soul. Honesty and being true to ourselves is always the best course to follow, no matter who is watching. Elder Gerard concluded, “May we follow our Exemplar, the Savior of the world, and not shrink but live a life that is true to God, to each other, and to our divine identity. As Job said, ‘Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.’”