Is truth obsolete?

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. (Thomas Jefferson)

Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. (Proverbs 11:3 NLT)

The fact that honesty has kind of become 'obsolete' in some circles is not to be taken lightly. There is a constant struggle going on with us attempting to uncover dishonesty in political circles, manipulative online schemes, and advertising that sucks in the gullible. Million-dollar corporations have been formed to 'unmask' the hidden and manipulative online schemes we refer to as scams. Hours upon hours are spent ferreting out hidden agendas in political meeting rooms. All this manipulation of truth can make a soul wary - even when truth comes plainly and unmasked.

Good people don't fear honesty - they are not going to compromise their integrity for the pleasure of being accepted by the 'in crowd'. The honest don't fear God's presence - for they know even when they have to be honest about something they didn't do as well as they should have done, God isn't going to reject them. There is much to be gained in living an honest and open life, but it comes with some risks. The risk that others may not like what you do or how you refuse to engage in certain acts such as gossip or badmouthing others. The risk that you may not be accepted in some circles because your very life brings conviction by the way you live and deal with others. The risks might just make it easier to live with a little dishonesty, but is it worth it?

In God's eyes, it is not worth it. The more we cover-up our failures, the further we get away from living an honest life. The more we engage in questionable behavior, not really 'sinful', but not very God-honoring either, the further we get from living an upright and honest life. The distance dishonesty of any kind puts between us and our heavenly Father is not worth the risk, my friends. The choice to live upright and honest lives won't be easy, but it carries blessings that far outweigh anything we would gain by our dishonesty.

The first person we need to be honest with is ourselves. We can tell ourselves some pretty whopping lies at times - justifying some form of compromise because it feels good or it seems like it is the 'in thing' to be doing. Whenever we lie to ourselves, we open the door for more and more deception. Do we really want to do that? Not likely, but if we continue to just 'brush over' our compromising ways, we will eventually become more and more convinced that it doesn't really matter. White lies are still lies. Untruth is just that - we cannot sugar-coat a lie and call it truth. Honesty is at the core of a believer's life - it must be because God is the God of truth - he cannot abide dishonesty. Perhaps it is time that truth becomes common-place and dishonesty becomes obsolete. Just sayin...