Standing for Integrity
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. Isa. 50:7, NIV.
Thomas More is well known as one of the great moral and ethical heroes of the Western world, and each of us lives his story in microcosm in the daily decisions we face.
The great question of his life was how to respond to the divorce and remarriage of King Henry VIII. Frustrated by her inability to produce a male heir, Henry divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. The church opposed the divorce and delayed approving the new marriage. Henry put pressure on Parliament to pass the act of succession to transfer the royal lineage from the children of Catherine to the children of Anne.
The members of Parliament, with various degrees of enthusiasm, ultimately went along, with one exception—Thomas More.
More paid a high price for his faithfulness to principle.
His reputation for integrity was well known. More's approval would have helped to silence the king's conscience, but his refusal to go along pricked the king's comfort and disturbed his peace.
The king had More confined in a filthy dungeon and his income cut off. His wife and daughter were reduced to poverty. England watched and the king waited for More's signature approving the act of succession.
More held out for two years, but his wife lost all patience with his unyieldingly principled life.
Tradition says that someone entered his filthy cell and found More surrounded by vagabonds, brigands, thieves, and killers. The gentle scholar sat emaciated, clad in rags, shivering from the cold. The visitor had brought the list of parliamentary signatures, signatures of friends and companions from law and life. He begged More to sign and save his life: "But Thomas, look at these names. You know these men. Can't you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?"
More responded: "And when we stand before God, and you are sent to heaven for doing according to your conscience and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come with me for fellowship?"
Are you living according to God's principles, or do you find yourself compromising when tempted? Think about More's response.
Thomas More is well known as one of the great moral and ethical heroes of the Western world, and each of us lives his story in microcosm in the daily decisions we face.
The great question of his life was how to respond to the divorce and remarriage of King Henry VIII. Frustrated by her inability to produce a male heir, Henry divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. The church opposed the divorce and delayed approving the new marriage. Henry put pressure on Parliament to pass the act of succession to transfer the royal lineage from the children of Catherine to the children of Anne.
The members of Parliament, with various degrees of enthusiasm, ultimately went along, with one exception—Thomas More.
More paid a high price for his faithfulness to principle.
His reputation for integrity was well known. More's approval would have helped to silence the king's conscience, but his refusal to go along pricked the king's comfort and disturbed his peace.
The king had More confined in a filthy dungeon and his income cut off. His wife and daughter were reduced to poverty. England watched and the king waited for More's signature approving the act of succession.
More held out for two years, but his wife lost all patience with his unyieldingly principled life.
Tradition says that someone entered his filthy cell and found More surrounded by vagabonds, brigands, thieves, and killers. The gentle scholar sat emaciated, clad in rags, shivering from the cold. The visitor had brought the list of parliamentary signatures, signatures of friends and companions from law and life. He begged More to sign and save his life: "But Thomas, look at these names. You know these men. Can't you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?"
More responded: "And when we stand before God, and you are sent to heaven for doing according to your conscience and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come with me for fellowship?"
Are you living according to God's principles, or do you find yourself compromising when tempted? Think about More's response.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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