“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”
(Proverbs 11:3 NIV)
The Hebrew word translated “upright” here is yashar (יָשַׁר), pronounced yah-SHAR. It is often translated “upright” or “right,” but at its core it means straight or level. Picture a carpenter using a level while building a house, or a long stretch of highway that runs in a straight path without weaving all over the place.
What’s interesting is how often Scripture uses yashar to describe both paths and people. A yashar person walks a yashar path. There’s consistency there. Integrity. No moral zigzagging. What you see is what you get.
Proverbs 11:3 draws a clear contrast. Those who are upright are guided by their integrity. It’s like having an internal compass that always points you in the right direction. But those who abandon straightness? Their crookedness becomes their destruction. The verse isn’t threatening God’s judgment. It’s describing reality. When we twist ourselves long enough, something inside us eventually snaps.
So, how straight is the path you’re walking right now? Not perfection. That’s not the point. This is about trajectory, about the general direction of your life. Are you the same person in private that you are in public? Does your Monday behavior match your Sunday worship?
Yashar living means your words and actions match. It means you don’t have to remember which version of the truth you told to which person. It means the person that shows up at work is the same person that shows up at home, at church, or online.
Living a life of integrity brings peace. When you’re living straight, you don’t have to manage different versions of yourself. But when you live with duplicity, you’re always juggling. Over time, that wears you down. Eventually you lose track of which mask is the real you. That’s the destruction Proverbs is talking about. It happens from the inside out.
But let’s be honest, this kind of living isn’t easy, especially in a world that often rewards the crooked path, the half-truth, the careful image management. Straight paths can feel costly in the short term. It might mean admitting a mistake when you could’ve gotten away with it. It might mean keeping a promise when circumstances have made it inconvenient.
But God himself is described as yashar. His ways are straight. His judgments are right. When we choose integrity, we aren’t just following rules. We’re reflecting His character.
Here’s the challenge: pay attention to one area where you’ve been tempted to take the scenic route around the truth. Maybe it’s a quiet exaggeration. Maybe it’s a compromise no one sees. Choose the straight line instead. Let integrity guide you before crookedness starts doing its quiet damage.
Prayer: Lord, You know how easily I wander off the straight road. Align my heart with Yours. Give me the courage to tell the truth, to keep my word, and to live as the same person wherever I am. Shape me into someone who walks the straight path with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day