By Grace Sweeney
God is the highest Being of all. He is the One who created us and loves us and who made a way to save us from our sins, giving all who believe a life with Him forever. Our purpose on this earth is to honor Him, to obey Him and to love Him.
His Word is a light for our feet (Psalm 119:105), guiding us through this dark world. It provides us with precepts to live by so that we can act like Jesus and be more like Him.
One of those precepts is honesty.
Honesty pleases God. It honors Him when we are truthful.
“For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight, but also in the sight of man.” 2 Corinthians 8:21
Often we’re tempted to lie and the thoughts that come to us might be something like this: “Lying would be so much easier. It won’t bring as much trouble as telling the truth would. No one will have to find out about it. Just fib a little.”
In Proverbs 10:9, it says “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Lying is never the easiest path. It is always found out and the situation that comes out of that is almost always worse than it would have been if we had been truthful.
One example in the Bible is that of Joseph’s brothers. After they sold Joseph to the slave traders, they lied to their father about what happened to him and felt incredible guilt over that for years afterward. After they came to Egypt and Jacob their father died, they still felt so guilty they were certain Joseph would kill them to get revenge for what they had done. Lies hurt those we deceive, but they also hurt us. Guilt is a very heavy burden to bear.
Even when it’s hard, telling the truth in love shows integrity. Honesty is only one facet of integrity but the Bible says, “The righteous who walks in integrity—blessed are his children after him!” (Proverbs 20:7)
Being honest is not always easy. If it’s a delicate subject, ask the Lord’s wisdom. If you need to reply truthfully to something but the truth might hurt, offer it with kindness and gentleness.
Let us seek to honor God with our lips and our lives, seeking to be Truth-filled (with the Word) and truthful as we speak with others. In this, He will be pleased!
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