Honesty is important

1 John 1:8-10 (NLT)
8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

The apostle warns us of deceiving ourselves, which also leads to deceiving others. When we put honesty aside we are not living our life truthfully. We should instead be ready to be honest and confess our sins to God and to those we have harmed or offended. God is just and fair and He will forgive our sins when we are honest with Him. If we continue to sin and say we have no sin then our own dishonesty is calling God a liar.

William Shakespeare said, “Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” Many of us remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. In jest the boy dishonestly yelled out for help several times and each time people ran to his rescue just to find he had lied. Then when real trouble came along no one listened for they believed his call for mercy was nothing more than a dishonest lie once again. Lies separate us from our spouses, friends, relatives and others because they begin to realize they do not know the true person. I have listened this week as a public official stated lie after lie and then finally broke down and told the truth. The evidence had become greater than his capacity for dishonesty and he could no longer compartmentalize his lies. If you are familiar with Dr. Drew and his work for addiction recovery, he said one of the strongest points they try to get across to patients is to “be honest”. If the patient cannot be honest they deny the addiction and problems. Doesn’t that sound like the verse above? Honesty builds a character of integrity. Lies and deceit tear down a person’s character in an instant. It is better even to pause for a moment to gather your thoughts when confronted with the truth than to express a lie. Stop and think what is right and what needs to be made known and honestly make a statement. It doesn’t even hurt if you say, “right now I cannot comment on that statement, but I will give an answer that is honest.” Honesty is your best policy in the long. Learn to be honest and also teach those under you the importance of having an honest character.