It Starts Small

Integrity can be summed up as walking what you speak. Sometimes it takes courage to maintain our integrity. Have you ever been tempted to compromise? Today’s scriptures learn how to please the Lord by the choices we make as we look at Abigail.

¹⁸ Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel^[a] of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband, Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:18-19

Culture, especially pop culture places achieving our goals over faithfulness to God. It takes courage to stand up for our faith and choose character over achievement. We live in a world that promotes compromise. it is a world that says, “Do whatever is necessary to accomplish your goals and meet your needs – even if it means setting your convictions aside.”

When we read the account of Abigail, we observe a husband and wife with very different views on integrity. Nabal was harsh and evil in his dealings. Abigail remained a loyal wife, yet refused to compromise when it came to honoring God’s calling to care for the needs of David and his men. She was strong and courageous in her faithfulness.

Today, our scripture is encouraging us to regularly examine our motives and ask ourselves: Is it more important to me to achieve my goals and meet my earthly desires than to value God’s calling on my life?

Abigail was ‘s a noble woman whose husband’s distinguishing characteristic was an ill-tempered attitude. Desiring to please God and with many lives at stake, she courageously chose to provide for David.

Courageously maintain your integrity by practicing the following:

• Think before you speak. Think about what you are thinking. Consider how and what you are saying. Consider the way you are speaking and objectively appraise each situation before you act.
• Be accountable. Invite safe friends to inspect your life. To challenge you in maintaining your integrity.
• Be honest. Be upfront, truthful and willing to admit when you have made a mistake.
• Seek to please God. Make your decisions on what God thinks and not what the world things.

God is pleased when we chose faithfulness over our own desires and achievements.

What areas of your life are you most vulnerable to compromise?

What specific plan can you put in place today to maintain and protect your godly character and devotion to the Lord?

© Kimberlee Smith 2025 http://www.itstartssmall.com All rights reserved.