Quest for Integrity in Private & Public life – Real-life practical integrity
Integrity, in private and public life, is very much in demand. It is sad that it is a scarce commodity with persons who are top officers, ministers, prime ministers, presidents, etc. It is equally scarce among ordinary mortals who go about with their private businesses.
It is said that the lure of sex, money and power has destroyed many erstwhile successful lives. These are practical issues that we face daily. The desire to get rich is always there and needs to be controlled. Beautiful ladies and handsome men will always populate the world and it requires discipline for one to keep one’s self in the straight and narrow. Power corrupts, and absolutely power corrupts absolutely.
We all have much to learn from Joseph, the Hebrew boy sold as a slave by his brothers. He turned out to be a resounding success in Egypt, a prime minister par excellence, such that to him belonged the credit of saving the nation of Egypt from seven years of devastating famine.
He was handsome, and faced temptation over an illicit sexual relationship, had wealth and power, and he passed all with flying colours in the foreign land.
How did he do it? To answer this question, we may have to analyse the account of his life in stages, starting with the temptation over an illicit sexual relationship.
Encounter with Mrs Potiphar
From Genesis 39:1-20, we have the following account: “Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favour in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.
7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
10 And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, 12 she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15 and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 16 Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18 but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 19 When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.
Analysis:
It would appear that the present day society condones or connives at sex between two consenting adults. Not Joseph, he would not have that. He described it as “a great wickedness” against his master and a sin against God.
It would also appear that while Mrs. Potiphar believed that there were just two of them, Joseph believed that there were three at the scene. There were Mrs. Potiphar, Joseph and the Almighty God. Joseph knew that he was committed to living for God wherever he was but not so Mrs. Potiphar. She did not see it that way.
At this point, we have to pause for comments.
Testimonies
Are there any testimonies or experiences on this subject of sexual relationship between two adults.
I know of a visiting professor in a foreign university. He was accommodated in a comfortable room with its ensuite toilet facilities. Whenever the lady house cleaner came to his room, he always left the room for her. On a given day, he was brushing his teeth in his bathroom, the house cleaner came into the room and walked up to him in the bathroom. The visiting professor gently stopped all he was doing and walked out of the room. He waited outside the room until the cleaner completed her work and left his room.
Please more testimonies and experiences are invited. Thank you.