Some online dictionaries report each year on what words were looked up the most on their site. For 2005, some of the most popular words were refugee, pandemic, tsunami, and levee. Because of worldwide catastrophic events that year, we can readily understand why those words were checked.

The most popular lookup for the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary that year was the word integrity. The definition given is: “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.” It’s used to describe those who are unwilling to be bribed or morally corrupted. Why was that word on the top of the list? Could it be because integrity is so lacking that many don’t know what it looks like in someone’s life?

In His Word, God gave us an example of integrity in the life of Joseph. Potiphar had put him in charge of overseeing “his house and all that he had” (Gen. 39:5). When he was propositioned by his master’s wife, Joseph refused, saying, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (v.9). He knew what God’s standards were, and he chose to stand for the right—at the cost of his freedom.

Integrity—look it up in Genesis 39. Then live it out in God’s strength.  — Anne Cetas