How can I live honestly? - Honesty - TouchPoints

Psalm 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Proverbs 24:12Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

Romans 12:3Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

Honesty with ourselves is called self-awareness. This allows us to see ourselves in the way that God and others see us. To be self-aware takes empathy and humility. Empathy helps us understand how others may be experiencing our actions, and humility helps us admit when those actions are foolish or harmful. Humility should be rooted in our respect for God. Ultimately, only God has a perfectly clear and honest judgment of our thoughts and actions.

Proverbs 27:5An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

Proverbs 24:26An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship.

Zechariah 7:9“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another.”

Ephesians 4:15Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

Ephesians 4:25So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

Colossians 3:9Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

1 Thessalonians 2:5Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!

1 Thessalonians 2:10-11You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children.

Honesty—even when difficult—is a mark of a deep and loving relationship. To show kindness and encourage each other is good, but sometimes, a friend or family member needs to hear truths they may not want to hear. Perhaps some bad news that needs to be broken to a family member. Perhaps a friend is making a wrong decision. Perhaps a fellow believer is trapped in a cycle of sin and refusing to address it. Perhaps a family member’s sin is harming us and others. At these times, we should love those people enough to share those hard but necessary truths with them.

Psalm 27:11Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.

Psalm 32:2Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

Daniel 6:4Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.

2 Corinthians 1:12We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.

When we live lives of integrity, honesty becomes part of who we are. Criticisms and slander have a difficult time sticking to a life of integrity.

Psalm 119:142, 144, 160Your justice is eternal, and your instructions are perfectly true. . . . Your laws are always right; help me to understand them so I may live. . . . The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever.

Proverbs 30:7-8O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

Luke 8:15“And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.”

2 Timothy 3:16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Praying and reading God’s Word helps us walk lives of honesty with God.

2 Kings 12:15No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men.

2 Kings 22:7“Don’t require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men.”

Proverbs 25:13Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.

Others will notice the honesty in our work, or the lack thereof. As Christ’s representatives, we should set the example for honesty.

Leviticus 19:36“Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 25:13-16“You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, and you must use full and honest measures. Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.”

Ezekiel 45:10Use only honest weights and scales and honest measures, both dry and liquid.

Hosea 12:7No, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales—they love to cheat.

Our honesty in business dealings is a barometer of our true character.