Col. Edith Nakalema lectures women on integrity & its essence in family, church & community
The State House Anti-Corruption Unit head, Col. Edith Nakalema yesterday lectured women on Integrity & it’s Essence in Family, Church & Community at the Conference of Women of Excellence Western Chapter in Mbarara District. She urged them to be hardworking, love their children, build confidence & trust for a Corrupt free Uganda.
Below is her full lecture
INTEGRITY AND ITS ESSENCE IN FAMILY, CHURCH AND COMMUNITY
Having integrity means doing the right thing in a reliable way even when no one is watching. It’s a personality trait that we admire, since it means a person has a moral compass that doesn’t waver. It literally means having “wholeness” of character, just as an integer is a “whole number” with no fractions.
While there are many things that compromise our integrity, here are five signs that show your integrity is in question:
1. It’s all about you. You can say it’s about God. You can say it’s about others. But only you and God know your heart. Selfish people harm their organizations, families and friends.
2. Your self esteem rises and falls with the opinion of others. A secure leader can see the right way and lead people there through tough conditions. An insecure leader will bend with every change in public opinion.
3. You’re hiding things. You shouldn’t be telling everyone everything (that’s not healthy) – but someone needs to know everything.
4. You fail to do what you said you were going to do. This isn’t just about keeping promises; it’s about keeping your word in everything. Better to say nothing and surprise someone by delivering than blurt out an intention you can’t fulfill.
5. You make too many compromises Life is not about getting everyone to like you or about finding the easiest path. It’s about discerning the best way forward.
When you are not a person of integrity, the down ward spiral of failure goes as follows;
Reputation Suffers
This is one of the first consequences of poor integrity. You will fool some people, but sooner or later your reputation suffers if your life is out of alignment.
Lose Attention to Detail
When your actions and words are out of sync it causes you to make silly mistakes. Your brain is not designed to do two opposing things at the same time. This multiplies poor choices.
Lack of Discipline
Self discipline is not easy, and it is next to impossible when personal integrity is out of whack. Soon every task is marked “urgent” and the truly important tasks slip through the cracks.
Problems on the Home Front
Stress begins to bleed into your personal life. Your spouse and kids get less than your best.
Trouble Sleeping
Stress destroys your sleep pattern. You can’t sleep. You dream of work and wake up tired.
Health Issues
Lack of sleep, work stress, family stress, and all the stress in between manifests itself in your body. Your health suffers.Fortunately, integrity can be built and rebuilt. Family is the first unit of a society and its from a family that a community is grown.
Parents who let children know that courage, honesty, and respect for others is more highly valued than quantifiable wealth or intelligence help kids understand the true meaning of integrity. When your children show integrity,tell them what you admire about their behavior
Eventually these children go out and make the society what it is as leaders and citizens, and so even the bible says spare the rod and spoil the child, this is evident in our society today with the majority being corrupt. I believe that if integrity was instilled in the children by their parents, Uganda would be a lot better than it is now. it all starts from home.
So I urge parents, uncles, aunties and all adults to nurture children into individuals of integrity. Remember children learn from those around them and so I also implore parents to set straight examples and be consistent.
You can display integrity every day by choosing to do the right thing in all circumstances. Examples of how to display integrity in daily life:Notify the cashier if you have been given too much change back.Refrain from sharing secrets and confidential information with others.Remain honest with your partner.Avoid gossiping about other people, respect others and work hard.Admit when you are wrong and take responsibility for your actions.Be gracious when others provide assistance and recognize achievements for people you work with.You should be able to tolerate challenges, delays and unexpected obstacles while maintaining a calm even demeanor.To be a church with integrity means ‘to be church’; to make the invisible visible, to be what God meant it to be. Integrity implies a deep consciousness of the true nature of the church and continual reformation of the church to be what it is.
The integrity of God is found in Hebrews 13:8 That God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
People who live with integrity are incorruptible and incapable of breaking the trust of those who have confided in them. Choosing the right, regardless of the consequence, is the hallmark of integrity. The most damaging sin a leader can commit is to betray the trust of his people
Spiritual integrity is the state of being undivided together with the quality of brutal self-honesty. … The first step to cultivating spiritual integrity is to recognize that we are not always honest. We aren’t honest when we control our actions in order to micromanage another’s reaction.
Integrity plays an important role when saying Yes to God. Integrity is defined as the state of being honest and fair. … It is important that you remain true to Word of God. If you teach or preach it, then you are expected to live by it.
