A Christian cannot live a happy and fruitful life without being an honest person (Luke 8:15). What if God wasn’t honest? There would be no basis of trust in living or in dying. What if honesty was not a part of our legal system? There could be no justice. That is why it is perjury to bear false witness so that honesty could be protected in a witness giving testimony. First Peter 2:12 says, “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Here are some other words that are related to honesty: integrity; trustworthy; fairness; honor; sincere; truthful; genuine; forthright; kindness; discretion.
What does that honesty look like? When you practice honesty you:
1. Do the right thing even if it is the hardest thing (INTEGRITY).
2. Follow through – you can be counted on to do what you say you’ll do (TRUSTWORTHY).
3. Won’t take things you don’t deserve like credit, awards, praise, or money (FAIRNESS AND HONOR).
4. Mean what you say and don’t say something you don’t mean (SINCERE AND TRUTHFUL).
5. You won’t exaggerate or pretend to be someone or something you are not (GENUINE).
6. Do not make false statements, leave false impressions, or deliberately use vague ambiguous statements to mislead, evade, or conceal the whole truth (FORTHRIGHT).
(Also, in certain life threatening situations, concealing isn’t lying if no obligation exists to reveal a fact; meaning no one has a right to lie but not everyone has a right to know everything, like an enemy threatening to kill you).
7. Are careful about what you say and the way you say it. Some people who claim they are just being
“brutally honest” get more satisfaction out of the “brutal” than out of the “honest” (KINDNESS AND DISCRETION).
Pastor John Rasicci is the founder and Pastor of Word of His Grace Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where we are building people who are building the Church. Pastor's ministry mission is to help people discover God's dream for their Life, the Local Church, and the Last Days' Harvest. With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
John Rasicci 
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