{"id":1996,"date":"2012-02-12T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/02\/honesty-is-the-foundation\/"},"modified":"2012-02-12T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T06:00:01","slug":"honesty-is-the-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/02\/honesty-is-the-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Honesty is the Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>Honesty is more than the words we say. It\u2019s a posture of the heart. We weren\u2019t made to try and be something we\u2019re not. God never asks us to keep up appearances. He longs for us to have the courage to be vulnerable. He longs for us to be so founded in his unconditional love that we live honestly. May you experience new levels of peace and joy this week as we discover God\u2019s heart for honesty.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cWhoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.&#8221;<\/em> 1 Peter 3:10<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>One Thing Remains by Bethel Music ft. Brian Johnson<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vGnpWo9SLuk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>Deciding to live openly and honestly is foundational to experiencing fullness of life in God. God doesn\u2019t deal with our facades. He doesn\u2019t speak to, love on, heal, deliver, or empower the fake self we try and portray. Rather, he faithfully pursues who we really are, drawing us out from the walls we\u2019ve built up around our hearts.<\/p>\n<p>1 Peter 3:10 says, <em>\u201cWhoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.&#8221;<\/em> When the Bible talks about honesty, it isn\u2019t just talking about God\u2019s heart for us not to speak lies, but also that we wouldn\u2019t believe or live out lies. In living honestly we will love life and see good days. Nothing good comes from being dishonest. There is no life in trying to appear as something we\u2019re not. Abundant life comes with communion with God, and God always meets us where we\u2019re at.<\/p>\n<p>Assess your life today. Are you living honestly? Are you trying to portray yourself as something you\u2019re not? Are you deceiving yourself or looking at yourself honestly? Are you coming before God just as you are or trying to appear like you have everything together?<\/p>\n<p>Honesty is at the foundation of encountering God, loving others, experiencing abundant life, and doing good, eternal works. Everything God does is about the heart. He\u2019s about that which has substance, that which is real. He\u2019s not calling you to share your \u201cpicture-perfect&#8221; life with others. He\u2019s calling you to be vulnerable with others that they would see the unconditional, grace-filled nature of relationship with God. He\u2019s not asking you to clean yourself up before you worship him or meet with him. He\u2019s asking you to come as you are that he might reveal the love he already has for you, even in your imperfections.<\/p>\n<p>Take time to make honesty a core value in your life. Reflect on the importance of being open and vulnerable. Allow the Spirit to illuminate any ways in which you are valuing appearance above reality. And choose today to be who you truly are. May you find new peace and joy today as you remove the pressure of appearance.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p>1. <strong>Meditate on the importance of honesty.<\/strong> May Scripture help you make honesty a core value.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.&#8221;<\/em> 1 Peter 3:10<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.&#8221;<\/em> 1 Samuel 16:7<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIf anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person\u2019s religion is worthless.&#8221;<\/em> James 1:26<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong>Assess your heart.<\/strong> In what ways do you value appearance above reality? Where are you working to try and appear as something you\u2019re not. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate any ways in which you need to live more honestly.<\/p>\n<p>3. <strong>Ask God to reveal his love for you even in your imperfections.<\/strong> Allow his love to fill you with the courage to be honest today. Rest in his unconditional love for you.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.&#8221;<\/em> Romans 5:8<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The only confidence available to us to live honestly is the unconditional love of God. Christ died for you while you were in your sin. He gave his life just to have relationship with you just as you are. Choose to receive his love. Choose to value his opinion over others\u2019 opinions. Let his love be your source over the fickle affections of people. May you find courage to be yourself today and thereby experience true freedom in your heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+Peter+3&#038;version=ESV\" rel=\"alternate\">1 Peter 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: Honesty is more than the words we say. It&#8217;s a posture of the heart. We weren&#8217;t made to try and be something we&#8217;re not. God never asks us to keep up appearances. He longs for us to have the courage to be vulnerable. He longs for us to be so founded in his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Honesty is the Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: Honesty is more than the words we say. It&#8217;s a posture of the heart. We weren&#8217;t made to try and be something we&#8217;re not. God never asks us to keep up appearances. He longs for us to have the courage to be vulnerable. 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