Growing in Integrity at WorkSample

Begin in Prayer

Devotional – Integrity in Failure

Spending three days with the likes of Daniel, Hannah, and Joseph can be daunting. It can leave us feeling like a life of integrity is impossible. They seemed to do everything right and I know me: I’m not batting .1000 when it comes to integrity and you probably aren’t either. But we are in good company. Moses, Paul, Abraham, and David also had their issues with integrity.

Psalm 78:72 says, “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” And yet we know that David had some very public and horrific failures. How do we reconcile that?

I contend that our personal response to our own lapses in integrity also speaks to our integrity.

When we think of integrity, we often picture someone who never wavers, never stumbles — someone consistently upright. But Scripture offers a more redemptive picture. King David abused his power. Completely misused the platform of his position. He committed sins that destroyed lives and dishonored God — adultery, deception, and even orchestrated murder.

And yet, the turning point in David’s life and legacy wasn’t in avoiding sin, but in how he responded after falling.

When confronted by the prophet Nathan, David didn’t deny, blame, or try to explain it away. He simply confessed: “I have sinned against the Lord.” In that single sentence, we see a kind of integrity that is deeper than image or performance — it’s the integrity of a heart willing to be humbled, to own the truth, and to be changed.

In Psalm 51, David opens his heart to God with raw honesty: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Here we see a man not protecting his reputation but longing for restoration with God. He knows that integrity isn't the absence of sin, but the presence of repentance. David doesn’t just seek personal healing. He commits to helping others through his brokenness: "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you" (Psalm 51:13).

This is integrity transformed — a life made honest and useful by grace.

God called David “a man after His own heart,” not because he never failed, but because he always returned. His story reminds us: integrity is not perfection — it’s confession, contrition, and a commitment to walk in the light, even after stumbling in the dark.

Closing Prayer

Prayerfully consider:

• How do I steward my authority and position at work?
• When I fail, do I tend to hide, justify, or confess?
• How might God want to use even my broken places to help others?
• What does Psalm 51 teach me about God’s heart toward repentance?