03.05.10 The 8th Practice for Avoiding Corruption

8. Guard your Track Record

Did you know that one’s determination to keep a clean record can restrain the person from engaging in a corruptive activity however enticing the temptation may be?  This is not surprising, since, while a clean record is critically important for one’s progress, a soiled one could close doors to numerous opportunities.  Actually, a little slip in your integrity can damage your reputation now and for generations to come. 

Therefore, when you realise the benefits that accrue from having a clean reputation vis-à-vis the punishments of a dented one, you will take necessary precautions to guard your track record. 

However, protecting your reputation does not happen by coincidence.  You have to take calculated steps to keep your record spotless.  It must be intentional.  That is what Jesus meant in Luke 12:15 when he said (AMPC): ... Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more)…  The phrase ‘guard yourselves’ means that it is you to do the ‘guarding’, not anyone else.

Prophet Samuel set a standard that we should emulate.  The man’s reputation was so clean that he challenged his followers at one point.  He said: … Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: … from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? (1 Samuel 12:3, NKJV). 

If you were to throw the same challenge to your clients, workmates and others, will your ethical status endure the test?  What would their answer be? 

Maintaining a corruption-free track record may sound like a dream for some people; yet it is attainable.  When you allow Jesus to run your life, your ‘corruption-prone’ nature gets replaced with an incorruptible personality.  2 Corinthians 5:17 explains this concept.  That scripture reads (AMPC): Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

There is more..!  That ‘new you’ gets divinely equipped with supernatural strength to boldly say ‘No’ to corruption or any other temptation for that matter; since you can now resist the devil and get him to flee (James 4:7).  What an easy way to maintain a spotless record!

Note that it is important to put a distance between you and any potentially corrupt situation.  Proverbs 28:14 says (AMP): Blessed and favored by God is the man who fears [sin and its consequence] at all times… Corrupt stakeholders should know that you havea closed-door policy for those kinds of occurrences.

Also, in order to maintain a clean track record, guarding your thoughts is key, since all corruption begins in ‘the mind’.  That is why Proverbs 4:23 says (GNT): Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.