Yesterday, I shared with you that Paul gave an emotional farewell to the believers in Ephesus. After they “prayed” together, they “wept,” hugged [“fell on Paul’s neck”] and “kissed him.” That which hurt the most was “that they would see his face no more.” Finally, they “accompanied him to the ship.” 

Would these grown men have acted this way if Paul had been like Ananias and Sapphira? No. His integrity endeared him to them.

Notice conclusions we can draw from Paul’s life of integrity:

1. Integrity draws people to you. People want to be around a person of integrity. In I Like Church But…, Dan Lupton writes about an unemployed Chicago resident named David Yi who found and returned $12,000. When his story went public, he received numerous lucrative job offers.

2. Integrity brings peace. There is nothing like laying your head on the pillow at night with no nagging pangs of guilt.

3. Integrity invites prosperity or God’s blessings. 

Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

4. Integrity shatters pretension. It makes you a role model for others. You will not be fake. Paul was a marvelous role model for all of us.