Meant for GoodSample

Joseph’s Costly Integrity

Read: Genesis 39:11-20

Discover

As Joseph flees the temptation of Potiphar’s wife, she grabs his garment. Potiphar’s wife uses the garment to falsely accuse Joseph of taking advantage of her. Upon hearing his wife’s concocted story, Potiphar throws Joseph in prison.

Learn

Once again, the story of Joseph centers around clothing. Like his tunic of many colors (Genesis 37:23), Joseph is wickedly stripped of his garment. Like Joseph’s brothers Genesis 37:31-32), Potiphar’s wife uses the garment to concoct a deceptive story about Joseph. The stunning reversal of Joseph’s status and favor in Potiphar’s house is a sobering reminder of the costliness of integrity. For Joseph, following the Lord with integrity means trading a prominent, powerful position in Potiphar’s palace for a seemingly unimportant and impotent place in Potiphar’s prison.

Apply

Often the price of maintaining our integrity is expensive. Fleeing from sin preserves our faithfulness to God and our witness before the world, but it also may come with the loss of friends, job opportunities, or reputation before others. What are some moments or seasons when keeping integrity has been costly for you? Write down specific ways the Lord sustained you in that season. No matter how costly, faithful integrity to God is always worth it because God is always faithful to us. Today, pray for a resilient faithfulness that will follow God no matter the price.