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Have you ever asked yourself; What is honesty, and why is it so important? What harm would a little white lie do? The bible has a lot to tell about honesty, and God wants Christians to be honest people. God instructs us to live in a manner that no one can accuse us of doing wrong. One of the crucial ways to achieve this is by living honest and sincere lives and always telling the truth in every situation. Honesty is a sign of the Spirit’s work in our souls. According to Hebrews 6:18, God cannot lie. We should Emulate his deeds.
Nowadays, honesty seems to no longer be important in our communities. Man is not naturally honest, Psalm 116:11. People lie because dishonesty comes with worldly rewards such as financial gain, temporary satisfaction, and power. But, all these rewards come at a price.
Proverbs 17:4 dishonesty results in more wickedness. Lying to fulfill your worldly desires results in the loss of everything you have, including your life.
Revelation 21:8 Hell inhabitants will include dishonest or rather all liars. So, just ask yourself, what is the need of gaining the whole world and yet forfeit your soul.
We cannot fail to acknowledge that it is sometimes tempting to lie or downplay uncomfortable truths to avoid hurting others or conflicts, but dishonesty will never let relationships thrive. Although honesty hurts the feelings of our colleagues, it is unavoidable. (Proverbs 27:6), ” Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Your friend is willing to hurt you with the truth, but lies in the form of sweet words are enemies of our souls. If you recall the wise words, “an honest person is motivated by love and affection, but not an obsession to deliver accurate information.”
Being brought up in a Christian background, my family envied love and honesty, and we were always discouraged from telling lies. My dad always emphasized speaking the truth regardless of the situation. He was also a good storyteller, and there is this one story that is always fresh in my mind even after being narrated over a decade ago.
A successful entrepreneur was growing old and knew it was time to retire, but he needed someone to take over his business as the CEO. Instead of choosing his children or one of his directors, he opted for something different. He called the young executives in his company and told them that his retirement time had finally come, and he needed one of them to succeed him. These young guys were astonished as they did not expect this. He told them that he would give each of them a special seed and that they should plant the seed, water it, and then come back after one year with whatever each person had grown. He would then access the plants and choose his successor.
A young man called Antony was a member of the young executives, and just like the others, he received his seed. He went home and delivered the news to his family, who helped him get a pot, prepare compost and sand, and then plant the seed. Every day he watered the seed and watched to see whether it had germinated. After about three weeks, his colleagues started talking about their seeds and how they had begun to grow. Antony kept on checking his seed, but there was no sign of life in it. Weeks passed and then months, but still, nothing was happening on his seed. By now, the other executives were talking about their plants, but Antony had no plant, which made him feel like a failure.
After six months, still, nothing had grown on his pot. He concluded that he had killed his seed while everyone else already had tall plants. He did not mention this to his colleagues but kept adding fertilizer and watering his seed, hoping to grow. After one year, all the young executives brought their plants to their CEO for inspection. Antony told his family that he would not take an empty pot, but they advised him to be honest about what happened. He was nervous since he already had the picture of embarrassment in his mind about what would happen in front of his employer and colleagues. But he knew telling the truth was right.
He took the empty pot to the board room. He was stunned by the variety of plants his colleagues had grown. They were amazing in size and shape. They all felt sorry for him.
When the CEO arrived, he greeted his young and enthusiastic executives, but Antony tried to hide his face in the back. He was glad by the variety of pants they had grown and how healthy they were and assured them that one of them would succeed him as CEO.
When Antony’s turn to present his plant arrived, he had nothing and explained the whole story to the CEO. He asked everyone to sit down except for Antony and then announced to the young executives that Antony was their new CEO. Neither Antony nor the other believed it. The CEO then said that a year ago, he gave everyone a seed to plant, water it, and bring it back. He said that the seeds he gave them were all boiled, so they couldn’t grow. When the rest found out that the seeds were not germinating, they substituted them with others, and only Antony was honest. He was the only courageous individual to bring back a pot with the dead seed in it, and for that, he was appointed the new CEO. This story teaches us that if you plant honesty, you will surely reap trust.
Proverbs 15:4 tells us that “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” We, therefore, cannot have a deep friendship if there is no honesty. Peer pressure is extremely strong, and if those around you are lying, there is a higher chance that you might feel pressured to lie too. But, always ask yourself, what are the repercussions of dishonesty? Ananias and Sapphira lied to God that they had given all the money, but instead, they secretly agreed to hold some back.
Due to this act of dishonesty, they died on the spot. According to Acts 5:4, God killed them, not because of keeping some money, but because of lying about it. Therefore, we should always pray to God to help us always speak the truth.
Originally posted 2021-09-05 14:52:44.
