“Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it will always get you the right ones.” ~ John Lennon
There are many choices a young child makes in his or her first couple of years of life. One of those choices, which is eminently critical, is whether or not he or she will tell the truth. Truth telling or lying starts early in life and, once embedded, it is hard to change. We have all seen people who cannot seem to tell the truth to save their lives.
A practical problem with lying is that it creates too much stress in a person’s life. If a person decides to lie, that person must then track the lies. The person must remember what was said to whom and when so that the lie can be reinforced with other lies so as not to be found out.
Telling the truth, on the other hand, is simple. Oh, there may be consequences involved if telling the truth. However, it is best to pay the price for owning up to something because that, in itself, helps to create a learning experience so as not to do the same thing again. A liar, on the other hand, repeats mistakes over and over again because that liar is too busy crafting lies to cover the mistakes.
Another simple truth is this: you do not want a liar for a friend. The reason is because people will assume that you are a liar as well. You can lose all credibility associating with a liar. If you associate with honest people, on the other hand, you will be considered honest as well. That is the right way to go.
Be honest. It may not always be fun and there might be consequences involved; but, it is the right thing to do and the best character-building that you can embrace.
FAITH ACTION: No matter what you feel the cost might be to you today, be honest in all your interactions with others.