Honesty Matters

One of the key tenants in the Lightner Household is honesty. When our children have done something wrong, they will always get into more trouble if they are dishonest about what happened. That’s why when our young boys threw a baseball through the shed window, they immediately came to tell us. With a little quivering voice, he explained what happened. “Mom, we are so sorry. We didn’t mean to, but I threw the baseball. The window broke.” I was thankful that our sons came to us and confessed about what happened. They didn’t hide the glass, try to clean it up, or lie about what happened. The boys came to us. The boys told the truth. Did they get in trouble? Yes! They were not supposed to be throwing a baseball. We had given them tennis balls to play catch. Teaching honesty and truthfulness in our home starts at an early age… Just about the same time as they learn to talk! It is never cute when one of our children lies — no matter what age they are! Honesty matters!

Too often I find parents who do not value the truth the way the Bible talks about it. In the book of Acts, we see how God holds honesty in high esteem. Ananias and Sapphira instantly died when they did not tell the whole truth (a lie). (See Acts chapter 5.) There is no darkness in God at all… not even a hint of sin or deceit. He can’t tolerate it. We need to think this way about all of our speech as well. The book of James makes it clear that the quest to tame your tongue is a valid but difficult task (see chapter three), and training our children to do the same is not an easy job.

What verses do I turn to when I teach HONESTY in our home?

This is not an exhaustive list of verses about honesty, but these verses are a good place to start as you teach Biblical principles at home. Proverbs 12:22 tells us just what God thinks of honesty: “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.” If lying is something that God detests, it should be something that we also detest. It should not be a part of our family… not even a little bit of it. In God’s economy is there even such a thing as a “little white lie”?

Bible Verses:

• Numbers 23:19 “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”.
• Jeremiah 9:3-6 “They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the Lord. “Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord .”
• John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
• Colossians 3:9-10 “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Verses from Psalms:

• Psalms 5:6  “You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.”
• Psalms 34:12-14 “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

Bible Verses from Proverbs:

• Proverbs 4:23-26 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”
• Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.“
• Proverbs 10:18-21 “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool. Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.”
• Proverbs 11:13 “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”
• Proverbs 12:22 “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.”
• Proverbs 19:5 “A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.”
• Proverbs 21:6 “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.”
• Proverbs 26:28 “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”
• Proverbs 30:7-8 “Two things I ask of you, Lord ; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread.”

How do I use these verses in our home?

1. Pray through these verses with your children. Pray with them that they would stay away from dishonesty and that they would choose honesty next time. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict their hearts and show them the Truth from the Word of God. Pray that His Words will always be a lamp to their feet and a light to their paths.
2. Help them find the verse or verses in their own Bibles. Reading Scripture right from the page is powerful and connects to your children that the verses are indeed in the Bible.
3. Ask them to memorize these verses. Hiding these words in their hearts will help them to stay away from sin. Knowing what God says about these things will help us to want to please Him and turn from the temptation to sin.
4. Prescribe them to write a verse or two (or more) in their best handwriting. This will help them to dwell on the words and the message behind them.
5. Ask them to write the same verse 5-10 times to have these words cemented in their hearts and minds. This activity easily helps them to memorize the verse.
6. Use a concordance with your child to look up other verses that talk about lying and honesty. Write a few new verses which are not on these lists. (You can find a simple concordance in the back of most adult Bibles.)
7. Post verses about honesty in your home or in your child’s bedroom/bathroom, so they can be reminded of these Biblical principles.

What ideas do you have for teaching HONESTY in your Biblically Minded Home? Please share with us in the comments below.

It is important for us as Christian Parents to teach our children Godly character. I have put together a free curriculum for you to teach this at home. Find the FREE curriculum and FREE printables HERE!

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