Should I Be Honest?
In Moral Values That Enriches Us as Christians Today, I will be talking about the essence of honesty and the consequences of dishonesty with scriptures from the bible.
A question Christians ask every day is WHY BE HONEST, we live in a dishonest world where honesty seems to have little or no value in our everyday life.
Is Honesty Relevant?
Let’s take an example, the story of Emmanuel, an IT consultant, and a friend;
I worked as an Information Technology Consultant for an architectural firm in Nigeria, they paid me a decent salary. During the monthly review of our financial accounts, I was asked by Superior to falsify the data which would affect the value of the monthly expenditure. What he wanted me to do, involved just pressing a few buttons but my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do dishonest work. As a result, I was threatened with suspension and ultimately fired.
Many people face similar problems all over the world, we live in a world in which the moral landscape is changing daily and the importance of morals is rapidly declining. In the business community, not everyone prizes honesty and the pressure to conform to dishonesty is so great when you are surrounded by so many dishonest people.
Lying and fraud have become a common part of our daily life. A Psychologist at the University of Massachusetts conducted a survey and discovered that;
”60 percent of Adults lie at least once during a ten-minute conversation”
Dishonesty is acting without honesty, when faced with difficult situations our moral values are threatened, we have to make choices that would affect our lives in so many ways. If Emmanuel had lain, he would probably still have his job but how will he face our heavenly father in prayers, for Jehovah hates men who are dishonest.
The Bible admonishes us in Proverbs Chapter 3 Verse 32
Jehovah detests a devious person, but his close friendship is with the upright.
Stealing, lying, slander, and fraud are forms of dishonesty, dishonesty breeds dishonesty; like a self-replicating contagious virus, the more contact you have with a dishonest person the greater the risk of you becoming dishonest, dishonesty destroys relationships; all relationships are built on trust and when the trust is been broken by a dishonest act, the fabric of relationships is destroyed.
Bible Scriptures About Dishonesty
Fraud And Stealing
Deuteronomy Chapter 24 Verses 14-15
You must not defraud a hired worker who is in need and poor
Proverbs Chapter 14 Verse 31
The One Who defrauds the lowly insults his Maker, but whoever shows compassion to the poor glorifies him.
Leviticus Chapter 19 Verse 11
You Shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another
1 Corinthians Chapter 6 Verses 9-10
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God
WHY BE HONEST?
Jehovah Loves an honest soul, He delights in people who are trustworthy, doing what is just and right is more acceptable to God than sacrifices. We live in a morally depraved world where we are pressured to corrupt our moral standards, only by applying principles taught in the bible can we train our hearts to be honest and upright.
Jehovah will reward those who are honest in their words and action, for an honest man has a clean conscience, self-respect, and peace of mind.
1st John Chapter 3 Verse 18
Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth
Brothers and Sisters Of The Church Conduct Yourselves Honestly In All Things and Do not forget to give your daily pledge.