Devotional: Be Honest
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
Ephesians 4:25 ESV
Why are we sometimes tempted to lie?
Lying is a form of self-preservation. We think lying will help us control a situation so that we don’t get ourselves in trouble with people. We fear facing the repercussions for our actions. If we cover up the truth, we think we might circumvent the consequences.
Lying is also a form of others-preservation. Sometimes we choose to lie in order to protect someone’s feelings or to protect them from facing the consequences of their actions.
But if we think that lying will benefit us or others, we are actually lying to ourselves.
Why is lying so bad anyway?
Trust is the foundation of any secure relationship, whether it’s family, friends, or a spouse. If you can’t trust someone, you will always feel insecure with them and question whether or not they are telling the truth.
Potential insecurity in a relationship is established through lying. It creates mistrust and is the avenue for ruining the foundation of any relationship. If you lie about something small, it creates a seed of doubt that will grow in a person’s mind. One lie is like removing a brick from a wall— it will cause a domino effect of destruction.
Even if you believe that you can hide your lies and no one will ever find out, the truth always comes out; it’s just a matter of when.
Should we always tell the truth?
Jesus said, “You will know the truth and truth will set you free.”
Lying does the opposite. It imprisons you, the liar. It shackles you to conform to a false reality, which leads to deceiving others. You have to live with yourself knowing that you are being hypocritical.
In other words, you become a slave to your sin, but Jesus came to set us free from our sins!
If we recognize that Jesus wants to set us free, we can trust that He can take care of us when we choose honesty over deceit.
This might mean that we still face the consequences of our actions that we wanted to avoid.
It could also mean, however, that the consequences we feared are not as bad as we presumed. (In other words, we often think that the results of being honest are worse than they end up being in reality),
Being honest doesn’t mean that we are harsh in our honesty or that we constantly have to speak our mind. It does mean, however, that we should also carefully consider the feelings of those we are in relationship with as we open up to them.
We must admit that the truth sometimes hurts. It might be easier to tell a lie in the moment, but it won’t be easier to face the consequences it creates down the road.
Take a moment: In what situations are you tempted to lie?
Personally, I find the temptation to lie when I know that I might disappoint someone. However, I always know that it is better to be honest and disappoint someone than to lie. The chances are that they will find out, causing greater disappointment.
I remind myself that I would rather experience that moment of disappointing someone with the truth, than being seen as untrustworthy.
We forget that others appreciate honesty because we all experience the same temptations to lie every single day. Honesty shows your character — who you are at your heart.
So, when you find yourself being tempted to lie, replace temptation with the truth:
Proverbs 12:22 — “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.”
Proverbs 19:1 — “Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.”
Proverbs 28:13 — “Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.”
Matthew 5:37 — “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.’”
Luke 12:2 — “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
Colossians 3:9 — “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”
1 Peter 3:10-11 — “For ‘whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”
James 5:12 — “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”
Remember that you can trust God. He will bless you with the freedom of integrity, secure relationships, and rewards in heaven for being faithful and honest.
This is what it means to live by faith.
-Alina