Honesty

Honesty is telling the truth with sincerity and accurately reporting the facts. When you are honest, you have confidence in yourself and you are secure in who you are. You are free from guilt and aren’t afraid to look over your shoulder for lies catching up with you.

It seems that in recent years, when it comes to reporting facts, we don’t really know what to believe anymore. We used to believe the media reported the truth. But they’ve lost credibility in my opinion. News agencies are owned by big business who all have a stake in elections and big money. Most news seems to be slanted toward the right or the left depending on who owns the station or paper or who’s reporting. Reported facts are stretched and dramatized beyond their truthful boundaries. It takes discernment these days to figure out fact from fiction.

But, we all stretch the truth now and then, don’t we? We want to look good or impress others with what we know.

Do you always tell the truth? Do you exaggerate your story a little bit to impress others? Is there a time when you shouldn’t tell the truth? Do you know someone who doesn’t tell the truth? Do you believe them when they tell you other stories or trust anything they say?

By being truthful we earn the respect and trust of others. By being honest, others know they can depend on us. We can say truthful things in a way that shows love and compassion without hurting any feelings.

Honesty can help us overcome cheating and stealing. We don’t like to talk about it, but they pretty much tell your true character. For example, do you report all your income on your tax returns? Do you take supplies home from your workplace? Do you hide purchases from your spouse or lie about the price of their cost?

Honesty can make or break your reputation. It’s good to be truthful in all things. Nobody is perfect but we can improve by making a habit of doing better each day. Think about what we do or say before we do it and make a better choice. We all have a choice. Schedule a new habit of honesty on your calendar or planner. Keep practicing it, remember, for 21 days. It will get easier.

Let me know your thoughts about the blogs. I’ve attached an A.C.T. Activity Sheet on the Caring and Respect blog. A.C.T. Stands for actual character training. If you revisit them, the PDF’s are at the bottom of the blog and you can print them off. They will help with the formation of new habits and have some good reading suggestions.

Thanks for reading. God bless. —Barb