Jan 19, 2018

Long Socks 1


 There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.  
                                                  ~Job 1:1(NLT)
A few years ago I joined a local gym that was the latest craze in the fitness world. I noticed that many of the members wore over-the-calf socks that nearly touched the knees. I filed it away as one of the many worthless clothing placebos people use to convince themselves of a tactical advantage. 
But a couple months later the fitness coach handed me a pair of long socks as I entered. 
“You’re gonna need these. We are climbing the rope today!” 
      “Why do I need socks to climb a rope?”  It was the strangest thing I’d ever heard. That is until I tried climbing and failed time and time again. My upper, as strong as it was, couldn’t handle my weight.
Then, a man larger than myself jumped up, grabbed the roped, wrapped his legs around it, used his legs to ratchet himself to the top of the rope, and did the same thing on the way down.
“Ah! Now I see why we need long socks!” I was soon climbing with the best of them. I learned the hard way that rope climbing has little to do with upper body strength and more about using the feet as a foundation to ratchet the ascent, and the arms only used for guidance and balance. 
Foot position is foundational to climbing the rope. 
In the same way, integrity is foundational to how far we go and how much we are respected in life. Except, the media and politics, you cannot separate integrity and success.
Without integrity you’re limited. Without integrity, you will never become the best version of you. Like the long socks, integrity is foundational if you want to ratchet yourself up and over life’s many challenges.
Position yourself for a life of integrity. Position yourself for the climb. Without the foundation of integrity, you will only get so high before your own lacking causes you to come crashing down on your butt for all to see. Ingrain the concept of integrity into your children from the earliest possible moments.