Honesty

A. THE CODE

“Honesty is the best policy.” Benjamin Franklin

ITS ALSO ONE OF THE HARDEST; Why? Because it brings awkwardness, conflict, frustration, sometimes stress, uncertainty.

Billy Joel’s song “HONESTY” says,

“But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind
It always seems to be so hard to give Honesty is such a lonely word Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And its mostly what I need from you”

Mark Twain said, “There’s one way to find out if a man is honest: ask him; if he says yes, you know he’s crooked.”

This Is How Our World Thinks: the reason why honesty needs to be a part of the CODE here is: we cannot have a successful team where the members have each others’ backs if we’re not willing to be honest with each other.

Jesus taught us to give Grace, but speak truth. Proverbs 27:17 says, ‘As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.’

The definition of honesty refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as truthfulness, and straightforwardness.
IT takes courage to be honest with one another. Jesus was honest with us and courageous enough to give his 100%. Why do we hold back from each other that last 10%?

Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.

Ephesians 4:15 says, Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is in the Head, that is, Christ Jesus.’

B. HOW DO I SPEAK IN TRUTH?

Even though we may be being honest, going up to someone and telling them I don’t like you accomplishes nothing because it is not done in love.

If “ iron is going to sharpen iron,” you must speak truth in love. Instead of saying that we may ask, “I sense some tension, are we ok? Or let’s go to dinner and talk this out.”

“Therefore putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.” Ephesians 4:25

Sometimes honesty is difficult, sometimes painful; honesty is always God’s command- ment though. God did not say “Thou shalt not bear false witness when its convenient, nor Thou shalt not bear false witness most of the time.” God said, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Period.

Sometime soon, perhaps even today, you will be tempted to bend the truth or perhaps even to break it. Please resist that tempta- tion. Truth is God’s way and it must also be yours.

The single most important element in any humans relationship is honesty – with oneself, with God, and with others. A person who really cares about his or her neighbor, a person who genuinely loves others, is a person who bears witness to the truth.

Lord, You are a God of truth; let me be a person of truth as You have asked me to be. Sometimes speaking the truth is difficult, but when I am weak or fearful Lord, give me the strength to speak words that are worthy of the One who created me, so that others might see Your eternal truth reflected in my words and my deeds. Amen.