SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 119:1 (NLT)
1 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.

2 Samuel 22:26
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

DEVO:

Have you ever been falsely accused of something? Maybe wrongly indicted? Misunderstood? Few things hurt more than being punished in one way or the other for something you didn’t do. Joseph’s spiral downward continues with an untrue accusation and an undeserved punishment .

Joseph must have been not only a great worker who got Potiphar’s attention, but he must have been a very attractive specimen, because he also caught Potiphar’s wife’s attention. Day after day, while Potiphar was off at work, she would ask Joseph to come to bed with her. Day after day Joseph would refuse her, stating he would dishonor both God and Potiphar by doing so. One day, Potiphar’s wife corners him in a compromising position. When Joseph tries to run away, she grabs his cloak. He continues to run off naked, leaving his cloak in her hand. I find it interesting that once again Joseph is de-robed. Embarrassed and enraged, she blows the whistle on Joseph to Potiphar, claiming that he tried to force himself on her. Of course this doesn’t go well for Joe. He is thrown out of Potiphar’s house and locked up in a prison cell. Now he’s not just been stripped of his robe, but also his position of favor.

What gives? Joseph did the right thing. He was falsely accused and then wrongfully punished for this accusation. Can you relate? Have you ever done the right thing and found yourself trapped in a prison of deception or shame or humiliation because of it? What do you do when you are falsely accused? Do you try to defend your character? What if you don’t even have the opportunity to present your defense?

Joseph isn’t the only one in scripture who was falsely accused. Jesus was as well. The trial staged for Jesus was an illegal one, occurring under the cloak of night. False witness after false witness was brought forward to give testimony against Him. For some reason Jesus held his tongue and chose not to defend himself, even though He had complete authority and power to level everyone present with one utterance from his mouth. In fact, earlier that night as a mob came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He spoke the words “I am” with the full force of His divinity and it knocked the soldiers flat on the ground (John 18:5)! At another point in his ministry, people were seeking to kill Him by throwing him off a cliff, but as they began backing him up to the edge, He completely disappeared from them in the blink of an eye — vanished, nowhere to be seen. So He could have also easily escaped the illegal arrest that night before He went to the cross. But He didn’t. He chose not to. Why? 

Aside from the fact that He knew the cross was His life’s purpose and that it was the only way for mankind to be reconciled to God the Father, I believe Jesus did this to demonstrate an important principle to us. People may do the worst things imaginable to you, but only you can give up your freedom. You see, freedom lies in integrity. Freedom lies in noble character.

What does this have to do with Joseph? I believe Joseph would have rather been in a physical prison and be free in his heart than be free to roam around Potiphar’s house while enslaved by the guilt and shame of sinning against God. Your integrity is something that no one can steal from you. They may be able to hurt the body, but they can’t take your character. 

Compromising integrity leads to a slavery of the soul that is much more severe than any physical jail cell. My mentor once told me, “Davey, what you overlook in character to get to the next level, will eventually come back to level you.” Tolerating cracks in our character is like building a house over a sinkhole. It’s only a matter of time until the whole thing caves in. Henry Cloud, in his book Integrity, writes that the word “integrity” means to be a whole person—where there is no discrepancy between the person you are in public and the person you are in private. 

One of the things I know about pain and hardship is that it exposes integrity issues. Just like we talked about earlier about dross rising to the surface when silver is put into intense heat, character issues also rise when pressure hits our life. As these issues get exposed, the most fruitful thing we can do is, in humility, confess those things to God and others and correct our course. It may take some time, but just like He does for Joseph at the end of the story, God rewards strong character. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND JOURNALING:

1. What character or integrity issues in your life has this trial brought up? 

2. Have you ever been falsely accused? Wrongly indicted? Misunderstood? Judged? What was your response? Was it one of humility and grace or one of anger, rage, and defensiveness?

PRAYER:

Lord, it is not fair when people wrongly accuse me. Their words and their actions hurt deeply. But I know that You are teaching me about how to maintain my integrity even in the midst of their accusations. Please help me to use my experiences as a razor to scrape off the dross You’re bringing to the surface in my life. Please avenge my name and restore my reputation. I won’t try to do that myself, but in patience I will trust You to reward my integrity.