The Cowboy Code of Integrity
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.” Psalm 25:21
Webster’s Dictionary gives us the definition of the term “integrity”: a complete, unbroken condition; state of being unimpaired; being of sound, moral principle; uprightness; honest; and sincerity”. A man or woman with integrity can go far in the world even though they may be ridiculed for being “straight-laced”, a “prude”, or one not willing to compromise on matters of morality, on the truth, and on their own personal code of conduct. The thing is, each person has to live with himself or herself 24 hours a day, seven days a week. How can one live a life pleasing to God and satisfying to oneself if he or she doesn’t have integrity? It is the folks with true integrity who are deemed trustworthy, honest, and dependable. I would hate to be thought of as someone who never followed through on promises, who returned borrowed items in a poorer condition than when I borrowed them, or who was selfish and unconcerned about the welfare of others.
I was watching one of the Hallmark movies on television the other day. The movie was about a young man who was a land developer and wanted to purchase a ranch in Montana for the purpose of turning it into a resort. The owner of the ranch was a young woman who was not that interested in selling her land, but she was behind in her mortgage payments which she had inherited from her dad along with the ranch. The young businessman was a real city slicker who was quickly learning all about ranch life and really beginning to feel at peace after living in the big city of New York. Of course, as with all the Hallmark movies, a love story ensures, and everyone lives happily ever after. That is seldom true in real life, but those of us who watch these movies like to see happy endings, and that’s why we watch them. It’s better than watching the news.
As the story develops between the young ranch owner and the interested buyer, she gave him the four pillars of the Cowboy Code. I am not sure whether this code is actually a code that has been passed down from generation to generation of cowboys and ranch owners or if it was merely created for the movie. Regardless, this code interested me enough to write them down. The first one is “Live each day with courage”. It takes courage to be a man or woman of integrity. God gives us the strength to be brave when everything seems to be going against us. The second code is “Take pride in your work”. There are two kinds of pride. One, which is the kind of pride that gets us into trouble with God, is having too high of an opinion of oneself, an arrogant attitude that causes one to act as if he or she doesn’t need God, that he or she can get along just fine without Him. However, the other form of pride, which is what is referenced here, is in feeling satisfaction with what one has accomplished, knowing that he or she did his or her best. This could be any kind of work, from performing surgery to mopping the floor. It is more about taking joy in your work, knowing that what you do is important to God and being thankful for one’s God given talents and abilities.
The third code is “Talk less, say more”. Actually, I don’t think I need to say anything about that one. It speaks for itself. And, finally, the fourth code is “Always finish what you start”. How many times have you started a project, only for some reason to quit before you finished it? Sometimes we loose interest or sometimes it isn’t turning out the way we planned, so we stop working on it. And then there’s the old adage about “biting off more than you can chew”. Jesus spoke to this very subject in Luke 14:28-30. He said that we must count the cost of a project (and this could be a physical or a spiritual endeavor) before beginning it, otherwise we may not be able to finish it, and then others will mock us, even though they have likely done the same thing. It embarrasses me to have to tell someone that I am “gonna finish that one of these days”.
How we live our lives should be based on God’s word if we desire to be a person of integrity and high moral principles. The Cowboy Code is a helpful reminder that integrity is the mark of a godly man or woman.