The saying, “Honesty is the best policy,” has been proven to be true; over and over again. It is more than an old cliché. It is just a good way to live your life. Being honest offers a number of benefits for us in our daily lives. Below I have listed five outstanding reasons to be honest in the way that you live.
1.) Honesty is the easiest choice
Being honest is completely by choice. Each day we make the decision to either, live in an honest manner or a dishonest manner. Honesty is the easiest choice that we can make. I am not saying being honest is always easy.” I would rather someone be upset with me for being honest than for keeping peace by being dishonest.
Dishonesty is like a spider’s web, sticky. When an insect gets caught in the web, it usually costs them their lives. When people get caught in lies, it always costs them something. How many people have been ruined over lying? How many relationships are destroyed by lies? How many hearts have been broken because of lies?
2.) Honesty reveals your character
When we live a lifestyle of honesty, we build up our character. Character is simply a snapshot of who we really are. Character is the window that people look through to the reality of our inner life. Dishonesty is simply a part of our human nature and creeps into the inner recesses of our hearts. It creates cracks in our character and in the way people are able to see us. Dishonesty does nothing but erode and destroy our foundation of character. When we lose our character, we actually lose part of who we are and who we might become. Dishonesty carries much too high a price.
3.) Honesty gives us freedom
Honesty sets us free from not only, being false with people but also from living with a façade over our lives. When we are honest, we no longer have to be fake in the way we live. There is incredible freedom in knowing that you never have to cover your tracks with remembering what lies you told to whom. Honesty gives us tremendous freedom in life. Many believe that being honest limits them in life but that simply is not true. Dishonesty will eventually catch up to people and they will pay a price. When we are honest, we are truly free.
4.) Honesty gives you credibility
Since we are being honest, who would you be more likely to believe, a person with a record of being honest or a person who is known to be dishonest? The majority of people would side with the honest person, each and every time. When we are honest, we build credibility. Being credible simply means that our words line up with the truth. Either we live in the truth or we live in lies. Truth sets us free and lies leave us in nothing but more bondage. When others are able to depend on our word and rely on our actions, we become credible in life.
5.) Honesty keeps you out of trouble
Honesty allows us to stay out of trouble that we make for ourselves. I am not saying that if we are honest, we will not experience troubles. Sadly, I have know individuals who stood for the truth and paid a high price for it. I firmly believe that I would rather pay a high price for being honest and truthful, than to be spared a momentary pain at the price of being dishonest.
Honesty gives us a greater chance of not experiencing troubles of our own making. Many times people either create troubles by lying or only compound their troubles by lying. When we stand for honesty, we truly stand. When we allow ourselves to lower to standards of dishonesty, we will always fall.
Some of the most painful character attacks I have ever endured have surrounded my honesty. The moment I lose my honesty, I lose who I am and who I want to become. Honesty is at the heart of who we are and what we believe in. Honesty reveals the inner being and opens our lives to show something greater and deeper within. Never forget, honesty is a choice and we make it each day. We will either be honest or be dishonest. The choice is yours, what will you choose?
