Honesty is a struggle for all of us. It started when we were young. We learned how to lie as soon as we could talk. As the years progressed, we became better at it. That character trait followed us into our teenage years and on into our young adulthood. Somewhere along the way, most of the blatant lies disappeared. They became half-truths. What we said was the truth but not the whole truth. We justified ourselves by telling ourselves we didn’t lie, but we left off some critical details. Those missing details of information change the meaning of the real events. They gave the perception of one thing, but it wasn’t exactly the way it happened.
By now, some of you are thinking all that changed when I asked Jesus into my heart. Salvation does change our eternal destination and character. However, we live inside our flesh, and it has weaknesses.
The fear of man is still with us. So, when we are in a bind, self-preservation supersedes the truth. We do not demonstrate total honesty because we do not want to ruin our perceived reputation.
All of us are weak in our human body. Most of us desire to be respected. Because of that human trait, we do whatever it seems necessary to protect our sense of value. The problem is we are not as strong as we would like to be. We need help—God’s help.
We even struggle with being honest with the Lord. We all have this in common in our lives. We may not want to admit it, but it’s there. The problem, with not being honest with God, is that He knows all the truth about us. Because He knows the truth already, we may as well be open with Him. Admit our faults and weaknesses. Ask for His help. If He reminds you of some of your unconfessed sins, stop and ask for forgiveness of them. It is a step forward in our character building of being honest with God. Our Lord honors honesty.
Our journey through life stands, stumbles, or falls, on the sound principles of life. You are human, and this character development is a continual process of life. There will be times when we think we are honest by not telling lies. Silence, sometimes, is our shield for keeping those dishonest principles from the public. Outward calm still does not stop the convicting power of God. Remember who lives inside of you—the Holy Spirit. He knows the thought and the intent of every believer’s heart. So be honest with God and yourself.
