Is Honesty Still the Best Policy? — Morning Devotions

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The boy repeated the same trick several times and the villagers came running in every time.
They gave him a warning to never pull that trick again as the boy laughed. One day, a wolf entered
the field where Ronnie and the flock of sheep were and slowly started attacking the sheep one by
one. Ronnie shouted, “Wolf! Help, please!” The villagers heard him but dismissed his cries, thinking
he was playing a trick on them again.

Truth is so fragile

Ronnie ran down the hill and told the closest villager about the wolf. When the villagers followed
him, they saw the wolf running away after killing and hurting the sheep. Ronnie cried, “l called for
help! Why didn’t anyone come to help?” An old villager consoled him – he said, “We are sorry about
the sheep. But now you should know that nobody believes a liar – even when they are telling the
truth.

Research has shown that honesty really is the best policy. After all, who wants to be known as a liar?
We are more likely to tell the truth even if it’s not in our best interest. Sigmund Freud said, “Being
entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise”. Sometimes it’s tempting to tell a little lie to get
yourself out of a spot of bother or bend the truth. But, is it really worth it? The Oxford dictionary
defines honesty as “the quality of always telling the truth, never stealing or cheating”.
Our society is built on trust – we go to the supermarket and believe the grocery prices are correct.
We don’t expect the salespeople to tell us lies. Honesty protects everyone, and that’s why it is the
best policy. It preserves relationships built on trust – open and honest communication with each
other. I am glad my wife, for example, will never tell me a lie – she is always open and honest with
me, even if sometimes I don’t appreciate it.

Honesty attracts honesty

Actually, telling the truth is less stressful. Have you ever told a lie and then worried you’ll get found
out? It’s stressful – and keeping up with a lie can cause a lot of worry. But telling the truth builds on
a strong level of trust. It’s very unpleasant to discover someone has been lying to you. Abraham
Lincoln said, “No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar”. And he was correct.
Why waste energy on stuff that is untrue? It doesn’t make any sense.
If you’re known as a person of honesty, you will have close friendships – your friends will love and
appreciate the “real” you. Honesty attracts honesty. People are who are trustworthy attract
trustworthy friends – and they are the best type of friends to have in life. Honesty also has great
health benefits – honesty has been linked to less colds, less fatigue, less depression, and less
anxiety. You can relax more because you have nothing to hide.

The Bible has quite a lot to say about honesty. Luke 16:10 says, “If you’re faithful in small-scale
matters you’ll be faithful with bigger responsibilities”. And Proverbs 11:3, “The right living are guided
by integrity”. The Psalmist wrote, “Integrity and honesty will protect me because I wait for you”
(Psalm 25:21). Christianity teaches the importance of honesty and transparency, and God wants us to
be honest at all times. God is truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Truth in full and not in
part.

As His people, we are called to live truthful lives. Jesus put it very simply “Let your yes be yes, and
you no be no” (Matthew 5:37). People should be able to depend on us all the time and our words
should match our actions. It is all about keeping our word. It is easy to break our promises. To let our
“yes” become a “no”. We may forget. Something more important may come along. Something might
get in the way. We promise to do a specific task by tomorrow, but the job becomes greater than we
thought.

Well, try to keep your promise, but if something unforeseen comes up, make sure you let the other
person or party know. It shows you value their time, and you value the words that you speak. When
we break a promise, it may not seem like a big deal, but it may mean much to another. It may be
another of many rejections they have felt in their lives. This is a serious matter. I know a few people
whose words cannot be taken seriously. Do they mean what they say? Is their “yes” really a “yes” or
a “maybe”. I’m never sure. I read somewhere that we live in a “post-true” society. That means, who
can we trust to speak the truth? Does anyone, anymore?
In the New Testament, we find this classic piece of teaching: “Having put away falsehood, let each of
you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another” (Eph 4:25). Honesty is a
choice we each have to make. We have to live honestly with ourselves before we can live honestly
with others – it can be a battle. But with the love of God motivating our life, it will become easier and
natural to speak the truth.

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Christian leader Bill Hybels is quoted as saying, “God’s concern is that we become habitual
truthtellers, whatever the cost”. And that’s a strong statement. May our words be as good as our
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