how-to-plan-your-life-and-live-life-to-the-fullest

Rules for living life: Get an education, get a good career, make a lot of money, own a lot of stuff, and enjoy life. Then reach retirement, spend your retirement, get rid of your stuff, and hopefully die quietly. Is that all there is?

We all come to a point in later years when we ask, “What was it all for?” All the stuff we accumulated: the degrees, the status, money, possessions, they’re all stripped away eventually. We can’t take them with us in the afterlife.

I’ve just spent a couple of weeks helping my 90-plus year old parents move from their own private home into a two room care facility. They were only able to keep a few personal items to preserve a lifetime of precious of memories. “So now what do they have left to hang on to?” I asked myself. I came to me then. They have something precious.

knockin___on_heaven__s_door_by_ticoowThere is one thing that will follow us beyond the grave. Indeed, it has been accumulating all along our life journey since we were young adults. It has evolved as we have matured, learning the things we were sent here to learn. It even comes along as we pass through the last portal of life. What is this attribute that we can take with us even after we die?

There have been notable people who have possessed it. They’re no longer alive but millions of people mourned their passing. You know of a few of them yourself. Mother Theresa, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Princess Diana, maybe even Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest; they all had it. Perhaps in your own set of friends or family you have unsung heroes who live on in your memories. What did they have that makes us respect them still? They had integrity.

 

Man at SunsetIntegrity It has no falsehood within it. It beats to a celestial drum, to a set of human values above earthly class or culture. Integrity is choosing the higher road, standing for what’s right. It has no regrets, no prejudice, no condemnation, no greed, and no selfishness. Integrity is a full-bodied word all tied up in honour. This the one spiritual trait in our character that will outlast our lifetime.

 

An ancient biblical verse sums it up with a list of spiritual attributes:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22 NIV

People make the effort to go to a funeral for one reason: to show respect for the dead. It is the integrity of the deceased that makes a large crowd come together beside the gravesite. It becomes the standard we’d like to live up to ourselves. Because of their integrity people often live forever in our minds.

stairway-to-heaven_016792Integrity is engraved into the very soul of the one who passes away. It will open the door to eternity for it is a godly attribute. It’s the key characteristic we need for the celestial kingdom we hope to enter and the only wealth that we can take with us up into the next realm.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ♥ Heart Thought ––––––––––––––––––––––––
Fotosearch_k10149770Straight from the big black book: 
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14 KJV


Excerpt from my book:  The Celestial Proposal,– Our Invitation to Join the God Kind, Chapter 10, Standards of Celestial Morality, page 202. 


“This one simple standard seems only fair and logical, doesn’t it? If we follow a personal code to treat others, as we would like to be treated ourselves, then we have what is called integrity. We can walk tall and have self-respect. Integrity is something no one can take away from us. Can we even begin to envision a society where all people follow this one law continually? What would it be like? There would be no murder, no muggings, no rape or robbery, no false accusations, no cheating in business or marriage, no faulty merchandise, no dangerous or unhealthy products, no controlling corporate monopolies, not even one person lying to another. There would be no prejudices, no legal battles, no tyranny, or oppression of any member of any society. What a world we would have to live in!”




If this post made you think – please comment, share, or like so that I know I’m connecting with real live interesting people!


 


From the archives read:


http://thecelestialproposal.com/2014/05/29/conversations-for-the-hospice-home/


Here’s another author posting on integrity:


http://positiveoutlooksblog.com/2014/11/16/i-like-loyal-people/