| Our God is Truth. God has made us in His image & by that, we have been given the ability to know "what is honest" & "what is dishonest". But for the 'how' & the 'when' to do or not to do, they will have to depend on our choice. Whether we choose to be in line with God or to go our way, we will still have to face the consequences resulting from our choices. Many people do believe that honesty is far more valuable than wealth but not as many live the way they believe. Uprightness - honesty & integrity - is becoming less prevalent in today's living because the world prefers to rationalise sins the worldly way. Eg : We tend to accept 'small lies' are relatively harmless or even useful at times. Also, how natural it is for us to become upset at an injustice done to us while closing our eyes to the injustices we do to others. When we sin, it is common for us to try & justify our actions with 'our reasons', false beliefs & self-deception. It is even much easier to do so 'when everyone else is doing it' or when we 'deem our intention is for the good'. But such bad attitudes will grow to become deception & false beliefs (sins). Besides, is this the behaviour of the true Christian, giving in to the society's pressure? For us, the children of God, our standard of honesty comes from God and not from the society we are in. Honesty is more than telling the truth or not cheating someone. With God, our honesty is an invaluable attitude necessary for intimacy & spiritual maturity. To the fellow humans, it is our duty to exercise honesty with God's love & mercy. We also have to look beyond our actions to check if our conscience & motives are in line with God. From the bible, we learnt of Abraham, Joshua, King David...etc who were totally honest in their relationships with God. They were frank about their feelings and when they pray, they simply 'pour their hearts out' to God. They did not try to hide their feelings under any circumstances. Why? It is not only because they knew God knows about everything but also due to their reverence, faithfulness and love for God. Such is the honesty God values and appreciates : being honest with oneself and be able to come before God without any reservations in all matters and circumstances. Our honesty is essential for us to come before God, right from the time we first seek His salvation. Having a constant honest attitude with God is necessary to nurture a fruitful relationship with Him. Eg : Honesty is needed to admit our sinful nature, our weaknesses, our need for God...etc; it is also required to acknowledge God, His Love, His Will for us...etc. Infact, without an honest attitude with God, it is impossible to achieve any spiritual growth at all! Why so? Put simply, without honesty, we will be dwelling in our false beliefs, deceitfulness, deception & the untruths! But our God is a God of Truth! God despises all forms of dishonesty & deceit. Dishonesty often gets the better of us when truthfulness can cost us something (eg : money, pride, success...etc) or/& put us at a disadvantage. Let us look at Jacob & his parents in Genesis Chapter 27: Jacob's mother came up with a plan to deceive Issac (his father) into blessing him before dying. Jacob did hesitate at first but we have to note that it was not due to the deceitfulness of the act itself but for the wrong reason - he was afraid of being caught. Although he knew deceiving his father was wrong but he still choose to do the wrong thing. It incurred God's wrath & he paid a great price for his dishonesty. Like Jacob, we are often more concerned about being caught in the sinful act rather than not doing the act itself. The obsession to achieve our goals can even make us compromise God's principle to do it the ungodly way. But would God approve our act? No matter how good our goals or intentions may be, we should not attempt to achieve them by doing a wrongful act. When we succumb to temptations, be honest to admit that it is due to our evil desires. Do not blame God because God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13-14). We must also remember not to use the Lord's name as a shield to do evil and to avoid doing the righteous thing. Eg : Do not say things like "God forbids me to do this or that" when the real reason is for your own desire. In the like-manner, do not say "I'm doing this or that because God told me so" or "I'm doing it in the name of the Lord" when it is all done for self gains. "Live as free men but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil..." 1 Pet 2:16 When we are dishonest to God and others around us, we have actually deceived ourselves building a wall of self-deception. Dishonesty or deceiving acts not only distant us from God but also work against us in our lives (others no longer trust us). God knows about everything and He is everywhere. When Adam & Eve (Book of Genesis) sinned against God, they tried to hide from God but learnt that it was impossible. It is the same for us. So do not deceive ourselves by thinking that "God won't know about what I'm doing". The truth is God knows all but prefers that we come to Him honestly and willingly. Therefore, when we have an inner struggle between doing good or evil, recognise it as a call from the Holy Spirit within us to check on our goals, real motives & desires. If we are worried about being caught in doing something, TAKE that fear of getting caught as a Warning "Don't Do It". If we are honest to God & ourselves, we will be able to identify and differentiate the righteous from evil. When we are faithful to God, we will then choose to do the righteous thing. Such dilemma usually happens before our actions but at times we will also find ourselves having to stop (for correction) along the way of doing wrong. We have to understand that sometimes, even the honest decisions may bring hurt or disappointment. But we take heart in the Lord as we will have joy because we have overcome sin. Proper speech/action is not only done at the right time but by so doing, it is also controlling your desire to say/act what you should not. What we say or don't say; do or don't do, are all as important. "Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no' or you will be condenmed." James 5:12 When our actions become a stumbling block to others, be quick to acknowledge the sins, its results and consequences. Repent honestly with God, only then will God help us overcome the problem because God is faithful & just. Bear in mind, every situation can be salvaged as loong as we are honest enough to turn in to God. We must not let sins & its guilt feeling overpower us and prevent us from going towards God. God is ever ready to restore our relationship with Him irregardless how far we are away from him. "To do what is right & just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." Pro 21:3 As children of God, we are to demonstrate our commitment to God honestly with complete faith & trust in God. Our faithfulness will diminish our doubts in God and in turn, it will further encourage us to remain honest to God. (When you have complete faith in a person, it is easy to be honest with him in everything.) Honesty is the key to open the door for spiritual growth & a strong relationship with God. Our honesty to see what God can make out of us (new self) will help us allow God to build us up & transform us day by day. On the other hand, if we refuse to face God's glory honestly (as a child of God & what God can make us to be), we are actually doubting God resulting in difficulty living Christ-like. Illustration : An empty bottle contains air. When water is poured in, the amount of air decreases. If we liken the bottle as the Christian, the air as the doubts we have and the water is faith, we will realise the opposing forces of faith & doubt. That is, the stronger our faith, the lesser we doubt. Sometimes, we may not even realise that due to our doubts, worry & fear (all in our own dimension), we forfeit the peace & joy of God. And the way to bring peace to our troubled hearts is to be honest with God & focus on God's love & promises, obey His Will while having faith & trusting God that He will do what He says. In our spiritual walk, the Spirit of God in us often prompt us through our conscience, bible study & reading, sermons, God's vessels...etc. For eg : when God reveals our weaknesses, are we honest to admit to it? (then do something positive about it). Or when God shows us the way, are we honest to God with our desire to obey/disobey? ...etc Do we pay attention to God's direction faithfully or do we doubt God? Let us learn from Samson & Delilah in the Book of Judges. Delilah was deceitful, she pretended to love Samson & spoke with honey-words. In truth, she was looking for self gains at Samson's expense. Delilah cheated Samson 4 times in all. We think : How could Samson be so foolish! He should have paid attention to God's promptings. But are there times when we allow ourselves to be deceived (over & over again) by some unsincere & superficial words, flattery & ignoring God's promptings, we give in to wrong beliefs or temptations?? Of course, we should not behave like Delilah at any one time. From Samson, we learnt that we should not be stubborn but be attentive to the warning signals around us. Let us not be deceived by the outward appearance of goodness which make a person look godly. Instead be careful not to allow anyone, no matter how influential or persuasive to talk us into doing wrong or to compromise God's principles. We can avoid falling prey to such deceit by asking God to help us distinguish between truth & deception. It may not be easy but the behaviour of the deceitful man will give him away. The lack of inner attitudes towards God, love and worship will make his outter appearance of godliness meaningless (just like the Pharisees during Jesus' time). His common characteristics are found in 2 Tim 3:2-4 "... lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful... lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God." Remember God wants us to be righteous & Christi-like (honest, just, merciful and humble...etc). In order to be so, we have to build our knowledge & faith in God diligently as ignorance of the truth of God makes us vulnerable. Only when we live honestly with God & abiding His Will for us will we be able to bear spiritual fruits. Honesty and faith & trust work hand-in-hand towards spiritual maturity, bringing us close to God. Have we been honest in our relationship with God, in our prayers (thanks & requests ...etc)? It's time to be! Right from now! Amen! Irene 010102 |
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| "To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice" - Proverbs 21:3 |
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