Honesty Is the Best Policy - Part 2

Honesty truly is the best policy with God, and with others.  Oftentimes, we shy away from telling the truth because we are afraid of how the other person may react or, for that matter, they may even disagree with us and begin arguing with us!  That is called the fear of man and that brings a snare or stronghold in our life. 'Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.' (Proverbs 29:25 NIV)  I find myself being so consumed with wanting everyone to like me (an approval addict) that I question whether my loyalty is completely given over to Christ as His servant alone to use for His glory and not mine.  'For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.' (Galatians 1:10 NASB). I do seek to be His servant and His servant ALONE!

Conflict inevitably comes within our natural families and in the supernatural family of God.  Do we allow it to lie dormant and fester like an open wound, or do we seek to bring healing through open, honest, direct, and loving communication?  I am reminded of the verse that points out how healing often begins, 'Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.' (James 5:16 NASB)  Here is some great 'one anothering' that brings about healthy relationships - prayer and confession!  They go hand in hand when it comes to having relationships with others that honor the Lord.

Of course, we definitely need a large dose of God's wisdom, grace, love, and timing when we talk to others about things that may be controversial or point out incongruencies in others' lives for the purpose of  health in God's Kingdom and in His people.  I can think of several scriptures that can guide us before we begin flapping our jaws:
- 'Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,' (Ephesians 4:15 ESV)
-“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5 NIV)
- 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.' (Ephesians 4:29 NIV)

May our goal always be to have open, honest and healthy relationships with God and others in order to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  'As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.' (Ephesians 4:1-6, NIV)



  

Honesty is the Best Policy

Honest is the best policy...when spoken in love and in God's perfect timing!  As Christ's disciples, we are to model His character in all things.  Jesus modeled truth when relating to His Father and to others.  In relation to His Father and to His disciples, I am reminded of the time He spent with them in the Garden of Gethsemane.  'And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” ' (Matthew 26:37-42, 44-46 ESV)

Jesus was willing to share His emotions with His friends as He told them that His soul was sorrowful, even to death!  We all deal with emotions; in fact, they are God-given.  The rub is that we are not to be controlled by these emotions, but controlled by God the Holy Spirit, who empowers us and enables us to deal with these emotions in a Christlike way, and trust in His infallible Word as our standard of truth and not our fickle emotions!  The first thing that we are to do in dealing with negative emotions is to confess them to God.  He knows anyway and it is no secret to Him!   David was the perfect example in this as he was so transparent with God in the Psalms and shared his troubling (and encouraging) emotions.  John Calvin,  an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformatin, called the book of Psalms 'An Anatomy of  all the Parts of the Soul' as it deals with all of the distracting emotions that agitate our minds and hinder our walk with God and others.

As David exemplified in so many of the Psalms,  confess these emotions and weaknesses to God and allow them to become an avenue of worship rather than a distraction.  This last nugget of truth comes from the study that Beth Moore wrote (and I am just now beginning! :-D) entitled 'Stepping Up...a journey through the Psalms of the Ascent.'   We also see the apostle Paul use this approach in his life in the book of Romans:  'We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.'(Romans 7:14, 15, 18-21, 23, 25 NIV)  If it's good enough for two of the most noteworthy men of God, then it's a good enough practice for us!