Quotes about Honesty

We will never be cleansed until we confess we are dirty. And we will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours.

Our task is not to whitewash nor bloat the truth. Our task is to tell the truth. Period.

Confession is a radical reliance on grace. A proclamation of our trust in God's goodness. "What I did was bad," we acknowledge, "but your grace is greater than my sin, so I confess it." If our understanding of grace is small, our confession will be small: reluctant, hesitant, hedged with excuses and qualifications, full of fear of punishment. But great grace creates an honest confession.

The ripple of today's lie is tomorrow's wave and next year's flood.

You want to make a difference in your world? Live a holy life: Be faithful to your spouse. Be the one at the office who refuses to cheat. Be the neighbor who acts neighborly. Be the employee who does the work and doesn't complain. Pay your bills. Do your part and enjoy life. Don't speak one message and live another. People are watching the way we act more than they are listening to what we say.

That's what guilt is: a healthy regret for telling God one thing and doing another.

If so, don't pretend nothing is wrong. Don't pretend you don't fall. Don't try to get back in the game. Go first to God. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross. "If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away" (1 John 1:9 CEV).

Those who keep secrets from God keep their distance from God. Those who are honest with God draw near to God.

You will never go wrong doing what is right.

Proverbs 27:5—6 5It is better to correct someone openly than to have love and not show it. 6The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you, but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.

Are you angry with God? Tell him. Disgusted with God? Let him know. Weary of telling people you feel fine when you don't? Tell the truth. My friends Thomas and Andrea Davidson did. A stray bullet snatched their fourteen-year-old son, Tyler, out of their lives. Tom writes:

Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.