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Congrue This!


Congruence.  I'm having a love hate relationship with this word.

I went to bed with congruence and woke up conflicted.

What does it mean?  How does it impact my life and the outcomes of my work?  As my amazing elementary teacher said, "look it up."  So I did.

Congruence, as defined by Merriam-Webster is, "the quality or state of agreeing, coinciding, or being congruent. Matching or in agreement with something." Consistent, conformable, compatible and coherent. Roots: Middle English, from Latin congruere to come together, fit in, agree.

It is a math term, so of course foreign to me!

Integrity comes to mind.  So I looked that up as well. "The state of being whole and undivided. Unimpaired condition.  Soundness.  Complete.  All according to Merriam-Webster.  Oxford states it is from the Latin word meaning whole.  

Integrity is a skill.

One source states, "integrity is revealed when your actions and choices are congruent with your vision and values." (http://wellnesslawyer.com/2013/03/01/integrity-are-your-actions-congruent-with-you/)

We are who we say we are.  

 
Brenon Burchard's book, "The Charge," deals with the human drives.  One of which is congruence.  He states, "like all human drives, then, congruence can be positive or negative.  It's positive when we have a good self-image, high standards, and congruence with that image and standard in life.  But it's negative when we think small of ourselves and our behaviors fall in line with that image."

I would agree with Mr. Burchard at a surface level.  

However, can we rearrange and become congruent on our own?

How does one know we are congruent without a standard to measure up against?  A truth?

 Do we live the way we say we believe?  Do we strive to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds?"  For Christ to make us congruent?!  Or do we tend to be as James states, "one who looks in a mirror and walks away forgetting what he saw?"  Are we hearers only?  Doing what we want after hearing the Word of God.

Congruence is the opposite of fragmented and doubting.  

Truth as universal has fallen out of vogue.  Would this also be why integrity has collapsed?

Looks like I'm going to bed with congruence on my mind again.  Only God can show me the difference between what I believe and value and how I live and behave.  Only He can transform and bring be back into agreement, completeness, wholeness and balance.

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