Honesty is the Best Policy

They say honesty is the best policy. I learned that as a kid. I also know that being honest is tough. Being honest requires courage. Being honest with others means you're willing to open your true self to others. Being honest with others demands humility. Being honest with others is often avoided, because we want to appear as good as our best facebook picture. Honestly, sometimes, we're not who we claim to be.

You probably consider yourself pretty honest compared to others, right? I know I've spent more time than I'd like to admit, trying to portray myself as someone that I'm not. I think many of us struggle to truly open our real selves up to people, for fear we will be rejected. Will others accept the real me? Will I be enough? It's so easy to cover ourselves with the masks of job titles, success, relationships, and toys. 

Here is an even harder question. How honest are you with God? For that, we all might need a reality check. I think some of us tend to avoid relating to God because it requires being honest with God. We would prefer to cover ourselves, just like Adam and Eve did! If we don't relate to God, then surely He doesn't know what's going on, right? Wrong.

Hebrews 4:13 says "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." It's just amazing and overwhelming at the same time that God knows everything about me...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just in case you think you're exempt, He knows your good, bad and ugly too. So, why hide from God?

God's love is stable. God's love will never fail you. God is kind, forgiving, gentle and always good. As I revel more and more in who God is, my futile attempts to hide the real me melt away. I want to be the real me with Him. Did you know that God waits for us to come to Him? He longs for us to come to Him open and honest, humble and repentant. Each one of us have open wounds and areas of our life that we would just as well keep hidden. God longs to heal and transform these dark places of our heart. If only we would let Him.

Honesty really is the best policy, with others and God. What can you do to pursue honesty before God? 1. Pray to God and tell Him you desire to be honest with Him. 2. Ask God to reveal any areas of your heart that have been hidden from Him. 3. Read Psalm 103 and make it your prayer today. Start this day with honesty toward God and others. 

"Would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart." Psalm 44:21

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.