Dear Yanzi,
How have you been recently? I was in distress lately because of some questions. So, I would like to seek how to figure them out. The Lord Jesus taught us, “But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil” (Mat 5:37). I feel miserable and distressed that I cannot practice the Lord’s teachings. I know that the Lord Jesus loves the honest, and I resolved long ago to become an honest man. However, in real life, I find that if anything touches on my personal interests, I often cannot help but tell a lie or cheat, and even use various means to cover up the truth. I feel more regretful especially when I see the Lord Jesus’ words say, “Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 18:3). I always ask myself: “Why can’t I be simple and open? Why can’t I become an honest person? If this continues, how can I gain the praise of the Lord? How can I enter into the kingdom of heaven?” Yanzi, I don’t know how to practice being an honest person. Could you fellowship with me?
Hongxin
Sister Hongxin,
Thank the Lord for His grace. I am good. After reading your letter, I have deep experience with your problem. I used to feel remorse and self-blame because I told a lie and could not practice the Lord’s teachings. I was also afraid that I could not enter the kingdom of heaven if I continued like this: so was I believing in the Lord all my life in vain? When I had the same problem as you, I sought out several brothers and sisters. But I still had no resolution. I merely committed sins and then made confession in a constant cycle. Afterward, by the Lord’s grace, I met Sister Wen on Facebook and benefited a lot from her. Now I am glad to share with you.
Why Can’t We Be Honest People?
In the past, I was distressed because I could not become an honest person according to the requirements of God, and even wanted to give up being an honest person. However, I never knew why I could not practice being an honest person. Later, through Sister Wen’s fellowship, I came to know why I could tell a lie and be deceitful in spite of myself. Sister Hongxin, let us read two passages first: “Man’s corrupt disposition stems from his being poisoned and trampled upon by Satan, from the egregious harm that Satan has inflicted upon his thinking, morality, insight, and sense. It is precisely because the fundamental things of man have been corrupted by Satan, and are utterly unlike how God originally created them, that man opposes God and does not understand the truth” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God”). “They rarely practice the truth, that they often turn their backs on the truth, and live in corrupt satanic dispositions that are selfish and vile. It shows that they look out for their own prestige, reputation, status, and interests, and they do not have the truth. Their suffering is therefore great, their worries many, and their fetters numerous” (“Life Entry Must Begin With the Experience of Performing One’s Duty”).
From these words, we can see that the reason why we cannot become honest is because we have been corrupted by Satan and our hearts are full of Satan’s various poisons and philosophies of life. For example, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face,” “Keeping silent on the faults of good friends makes a long and good friendship,” “Speak good words in harmony with others’ feelings and reason, as being frank annoys others.” These erroneous thoughts and viewpoints have become our lives, so we always live by them when things happen to us. No matter what we say and do, it is to protect our own face, status and benefits. We are directed and bound by Satan’s viewpoints, so it is difficult for us to practice being an honest person according to the Lord’s teachings.
Sometimes, when there occur deviations or flaws in our work, we will hide the truth in order to avoid being looked down on by our leaders and colleagues, or being subject to compensation, or being fired by the company, and so on. Sometimes, we speak against our will before leaders and colleagues to curry favor with them in order to protect our personal benefits and interpersonal relationships. Sometimes, when seeing some pastors’ and elders’ words and actions are against the Lord’s teachings, we turn a blind eye for fear of offending them, without a sense of righteousness … Clearly, when we live by Satan’s poisons and life principles, there is no place for God in our hearts, so we tell lies against our conscience and deceive those above and below us in spite of ourselves. We gradually become more sly and cunning and lose man’s original simplicity and honesty from when God first created him. Though we know the Lord requires us to practice being an honest man, we often rebel against the Lord’s teachings and cannot put them into practice.
How Can We Practice Being an Honest Person?
Now we know why we cannot become honest people, then how can we pursue being an honest person? Let us read several passages together:
“Honesty means giving your heart to God, being genuine with God in all things, being open with Him in all things, never hiding the facts, not trying to deceive those above and below you, and not doing things only to curry favor with God. In short, to be honest is to be pure in your actions and words, and to deceive neither God nor man” (“Three Admonitions”).
“To have the speech and comportment of a normal human being is to speak coherently, saying ‘yes’ when you mean ‘yes,’ and ‘no’ when you mean ‘no.’ Stick to the facts and speak appropriately. Do not cheat, do not lie” (“Raising Caliber Is for the Sake of Receiving God’s Salvation”).
“To be a believer in God means that all you do must be brought before Him and made subject to His scrutiny. … All that you do, every action, every intention, and every reaction should be brought before God. Even your daily spiritual life—your prayers, your closeness to God, how you eat and drink of God’s words, your fellowship with your brothers and sisters, and your life within the church—and your service in partnership can be brought before God for His scrutiny. It is such practice that will help you achieve growth in life. The process of accepting God’s scrutiny is the process of purification. The more you can accept God’s scrutiny, the more you are purified and the more you are in accord with God’s will, so that you will not be drawn into debauchery, and your heart will live in His presence. The more you accept His scrutiny, the greater are Satan’s humiliation and your ability to forsake the flesh. So, the acceptance of God’s scrutiny is a path of practice people should follow. No matter what you do, even when communing with your brothers and sisters, you can bring your acts before God and seek His scrutiny and aim to obey God Himself; this will make what you practice much more correct. Only if you bring all you do before God and accept God’s scrutiny can you be someone who lives in the presence of God” (“God Perfects Those Who Are After His Own Heart”).
From these words, we can see that we should first be innocent and open before God. No matter what difficulties or secrets we have, we should not conceal anything from God. Even though we dare not say something to others, we must speak the truth to God when praying. We should confess our sins to God and repent after sinning, becoming a man who thinks and acts in the same. Second, we should speak the truth based on facts, make our words fit the reality, and speak the undiluted truth. When we get along with others, we often say something against our conscience to explain ourselves in order to protect our face, status and benefits. So, we should always come before God and reflect on whether we have any hidden intentions or mixed words. If there emerges those that are incorrect, we must hurriedly pray to God and turn our backs on them, not allowing ourselves to be controlled by them. We should have the courage to face the facts, right our own problems and acknowledge our mistakes if we find we told lies. We are embarking on the path of being an honest person when our words correspond exactly to the facts. Third, we should give our hearts to God, with a heart that reveres God. We must accept God’s observation in everything and practice being an honest person according to His word. When we have the will to be an honest person that God likes, He will raise up the people, things, and matters around us to test us, secretly observing our every word and action, and how our thoughts change. If we often accept God’s observation and pray to Him, we will begin to have a God-fearing heart. As a result, we will no longer do things that are loathed by and hurtful to God because of fearing Him. If we often practice in this way, we will empty out things inside of us and become an honest person under God’s guidance. Then we will feel a great release in our hearts, with the difficulties of being honest solved.
Being an Honest Person Is Great
Sister Hongxin, I would like to share my recent experience with you. One day, I accidentally broke the fax machine while I was working in our company. At that time, I really wanted to tell the truth to my manager and take responsibility, but then I thought: “I just came to this company; If I confess to my manager, he will probably give me a talking-to and think that I am stupid; It will be difficult to stay in the company once I make a bad impression on my manager; I will lose face if my colleagues know it was me that broke the fax machine.” Thinking it over and over, I finally decided not to tell the truth to my manager. To stop the truth from being exposed, I began to ponder in my heart: No one knows, but if my manager asks about the fax machine, how should I shirk responsibility? When thinking like this, I felt uneasy in my heart and my conscience suffered blame. Nevertheless, I indeed had no courage to acknowledge my mistake. I felt extreme pain in my heart, so I poured out my bitterness to Sister Wen. Afterward, she sent me two passages of God’s words: “You ought to know that God likes those who are honest. In essence, God is faithful, and so His words can always be trusted; His actions, furthermore, are faultless and unquestionable, which is why God likes those who are absolutely honest with Him” (“Three Admonitions”). “Be an honest person; pray to God to rid you of the deception in your heart. Purify yourself through prayer at all times, be moved by the Spirit of God through prayer, and your disposition will gradually change” (“Concerning the Practice of Prayer”).
Pondering these words carefully, my heart was very enlightened. God’s substance is faithful. He hopes we can become honest people and deceive neither God nor man, and that we can often come before Him, praying to and relying on Him, and behave and do things according to His will. Thinking of this, I prayed to God, “God! I know You like the honest, and the ones who have courage to take responsibility. But I betray Your teachings to protect my good image in others’ hearts. Oh God! I’m willing to repent and forsake my selfish desires, and practice according to Your words, living out the likeness of an honest person to glorify You.”
After praying, I was at peace in my heart and knew how to practice being an honest man. Moreover, I had faith to betray my flesh and practice being an honest person. The next day, when seeing the manager, I was still timid and dared not face him as soon as I thought of whether he would scold me and if there would be some other consequences. But then I thought: God observes everything. Since I have made a resolution before God, how can I cheat Him again? Telling a lie and deceiving are behaviors of the devil. Thinking about this, I prayed to God again, asking Him to give me faith and courage. Later, I told my manager what happened with the fax machine and was willing to compensate him for it. To my surprise, the manager did not make it hard for me but instead comforted me, “The fax machine is old. If it can be repaired, you just pay its repair costs, and if not, just forget it. You don’t need to compensate.”
After hearing his words, I was very excited. And I was released and free in my spirit. It was great to be an honest person! Living like this is living in peace, straightforwardly and honestly. What’s more, my colleagues did not laugh at me after knowing about it. On the contrary, they felt I was a sincere person. Thank God! It was all God’s blessings and grace.
Sister Hongxin, all of the above are my experiences and knowledge about how to become an honest person, and I hope they will be beneficial to you. May God lead us to seek the truth together and practice according to His words so that we can become the honest praised by the Lord. All the glory be to God!
Yours truly,
Yanzi
