Truth and its Consequences

One of the phrases that most of us heard often when we were growing up was, "honesty is the best policy." Whether it was our parents, or our teachers, or even our peers, it seems that everyone was interested in knowing that they could trust what they were hearing from us.

Telling the truth is, indeed, very important. So many of us think that it is okay to "shade the truth," and then we wonder why no one believes us anymore.The Bible says "the Lord detests lying lips" (Proverbs 12:22).But there is another aspect of honesty that we need to consider--living the truth! A popular book of several years back asked this question in its title, "Who Are You When Nobody is Looking?" Are you one person in public, but another person entirely when you think that you can "get away with it?" God calls for His people to be people of integrity--the same on the inside as they are on the outside.

Jesus had some choice words for the Pharisees who were trying to impress people with their outward appearances and behavior but whose hearts were far from God. Read about it in Matthew 23:27-28.

God calls on us to speak the truth, and live the truth, so that those around us may come to know the Truth. The Bible tells us of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.