More Valuable than Gold

 ”HAND ME ANOTHER BRICK”
 
What a great title for a book - Chuck Swindoll hit a home run with that title and that book, first published in 1978 by Bantam Books. 
 
The subtitle of the book - “Building Character in Yourself and Others”.  How relevant to our theme for this week — Excellence in Character.  Today we explore integrity which is synonymous with character.
 
“Remember this:  In life you must always under-promise and over-deliver.”
- Dr. Robb Thompson, Author, Teacher and Marketplace Minister

“When one has integrity, there is an absence of hypocrisy.  He or she is personally reliable, financially accountable, and privately clean - innocent of impure motives.”
- Charles (Chuck) Swindoll, Author, Senior Pastor, and Speaker

YATEER — Hebrew Word for Excellence
The literal translation of Yateer is - ‘the mountain or island that juts out above the rest’.  What an apt description for what striving for excellence does for you - it causes you to rise up above all the rest.  Interesting enough, the word ‘mediocre’ has a Latin root and means ‘half way up the mountain’. 
 
In the picture below, the top of the mountain that juts out above the rest is in the beauty of the clouds — up in the heavens.  Ironically, half way up that same mountain is a mess of ice and snow — isn’t that what mediocrity really leads to - a big mess!
 
TOM or TOME - Hebrew Word for Integrity

The translation of tom or tome, is from the root word tamam.  It means completeness; prosperity; innocence; fullness; uprightness at a venture.  It also carries the meaning of being whole, upright, made perfect and entire — in other words lacking nothing.
 
Webster’s Dictionary tells us that integrity refers to moral soundness or purity, uprightness of character, and honesty.  It is the uncompromising desire to do what is right according to the highest standards of behavior in every situation, regardless of circumstances.
 
Integrity also implies an absolute adherence to a higher standard of values and a code of excellence; and is a person’s inward traits, motives, attributes, and character qualities that manifest as moral and ethical excellence.
 
Do you see the convergence of yateer (excellence) with tome (integrity) with ethics with character?
 
Hand Me Another Brick - Actually 10 in Total:  
Trustworthiness+Respect+Attentiveness+Compassion+Enthusiasm+Responsibility   
Discretion+Obedience+Gratitude+Service

In 1666, St. Paul’s Cathedral was being rebuilt after the great fire of London in that year. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, visited the site and asked three different  brick layers what they were doing.  The first one gruffly said he was working eight hours a day to earn a livelihood by taking the bricks from one place and cementing them in another.  When Wren asked another brick layer what he was doing, the laborer said abruptly “I’m building a wall, what does it look like?”  But when the architect asked a third bricklayer the same question, the man said proudly “I’m building a great cathedral where my granddaughter will one day get married.”   - WOW, what a difference your perspective makes!
 
Laying in the bricks of excellence in character is hard, dusty, difficult work.  But you are worth the effort.  One day you will realize that you have built, from within, a great cathedral that is producing the sweet music of purposeful accomplishment, you have many great relationships producing stellar moments and memories, and that you are well positioned to leave a legacy for generations to come.
 
DAILY PRAYER 
Father, thank you for giving us the potential for great character and integrity, but not actually giving us the character and integrity.  Rather, You require us to develop it, cultivate it, seek it out, and chisel it out from the granite of our being.  The greater the price that we pay in developing that excellence in character will yield a much greater blessing.  Thank you for Your wisdom in setting that whole process up, in just that way!  In Jesus name, Amen.
 
 
People quickly forget how fast you did a job, but they always remember how well you did it!  May you create nothing but pleasant memories for all those that you serve.
 
Grace and peace multiplied to you,