I Googled “Honest”, Honestly!

Old Abe Lincoln was often known, from my younger years, as Honest Abe. A bit of research shows that his integrity caused him to close the shop he was running, and return a few pennies to a customer he may have shortchanged. This basic decency was a tenant he lived by, to the point that it was said of him later in life when he was a practicing lawyer:

“Such was the transparent candor and integrity of his nature that he could not well or strongly argue a side or a cause he thought wrong.” [Source]

So. I Googled “honest” and immediately found over 929 million hits in under 1 second! From a company with the word in their name to articles talking about the need for more honesty from certain parties, it seems like it must be a popular topic.

One definition describes the word as “free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere.” So. If you are honest then your focus is being open, sincere and speaking truth to everything, and living a truthful life!

Else, you probably do not care about truth and will utilize whatever method it takes to get your point across, your lie accepted, or your product sold.

Maybe that word “sincere” is the key. Its root means “without wax” that describes how a craftsman might hide a marred vessel with wax so that the consumer will not see the flaw, hence, it was advertised as being “sincere”.

Here’s my thought today, and maybe you will take it even down a different being of thinking than what I’m sharing, but here goes. The word “honest” is a fairly recent word. In the Old Testament, the thought of Honesty was often a series of words that described an honest action or response. Here’s the first example that shows up in a search I just did:

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:35-37

Many translations change the word “just” to “honest”, thus connecting the two words as equal through the years as our language changes and grows. Regardless, the idea behind this is a sound thought and worthy of our consideration.

Honesty is not only the best policy because it is right, but it is also God’s policy and that should tell us how important it is to God!

Why do we not accept dishonesty from others, but think it must be okay that we get to speak untruth (either by shading it or calling it a white lie), or deceive, or hide facts from others? It speaks to me of duplicity or a double standard. We want something from others but are not willing that the same should be coming from our own selves.

It’s two sides, the flip side of a coin, or that we think better must come from others than what we are willing to give ourselves. Double-minded. Unstable. (James 1:8) Shakey Ground!

In today’s political struggle of just about everyone on the planet, we point out the untruths and lack of integrity about everyone else, but then turn a blind eye to our own faults and failures. Jesus talked about this with words describing the “speck of dirt” in your brother’s eye, but then the log that you have in your own eye! (Matthew 7:3-5)

I suspect the biggest problem we should be having is looking back at us when we face the morning mirror of self-reflection.

Today. I think we should take a long look at our own selves before we start throwing rocks at someone else.

With the clarity of self-reflection, you can more easily see your imperfections in others. Otherwise, I think you are simply talking to yourself.