Honesty IS The Best Policy

Whoever came up with that saying was a genius! I remember always being told that by my parents...who doesn't? Telling the truth was always the "right thing" to do, right? Then, somewhere along the line, we decided we didn't always want to hurt the one we were telling the truth to. We started to pad the truth, soften the blow. From there, we spiraled into lying. Some degree of lying, but lying none the less. We didn't always tell the truth. We tried to be self-righteous and say that we didn't want to push someone away,or hurt their feelings or something kind of noble sounding. But the truth was, we were lying. Then it became easy...almost a way of life.
I bet you are wondering if I am a compulsive liar aren't you? I am not really. I do tell lies sometimes. But I am learning. Learning that lying doesn't help. Trying to hide the truth doesn't help. Especially when you are trying to portray yourself as something that you aren't. There has been a lot going on around my house lately. And honesty is reigning, which means that Jesus is reigning. And that my friends, is always an amazing thing! The best thing! It is hard to ask to the hard questions. It is even harder to answer them honestly. In honesty, there is forgiveness. In honesty, there is hope. In honesty, there is healing. In honesty, there are no pedestals or "holier then thou" attitudes. In honesty, there is only love. And love endures! And love is the greatest of things.
I am blown away by the nastiness of my heart sometimes. How I want to hurt Manly Man for something he has said or done. How I choose to be mean to people, family and friends even. How I can be so judgemental about things I know nothing about! How I can decide that "I am not like them."
When I can be hard core honest, it is humbling to watch what the Lord can do. My words, actions or attitudes may seriously hurt someone. But when I choose to be honest about it, and tell them "yep, I sure was trying to hurt you by doing/ saying ___________" and ask for their forgiveness, the honesty touches the other person and brings about a softening of both our hearts, repentance in my heart and forgiveness in their heart. Honesty truly is the best policy. Of course, there must be tact involved. Nobody likes being told they look fat in a pair of jeans. There are appropriate ways to be honest and sometimes it is hard to find that balance.
I challenge you today, to be honest with someone, perhaps yourself, and definitely with the Lord. See what He can do with it. It will blow you away!