HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 177
page A175
• L U K E 1 6 :1 0 | “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if
you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”
• 2 K I NG S 1 2 :1 5 | No accounting of this money was required from the construction
supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men.
Striving for honesty helps you develop a reputation of integrity. Consistent honesty in the
past and present builds trust for continued honesty in the future.
• PSA L M 3 7 :3 7 | Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits
those who love peace.
Striving for honesty helps you to enjoy life because you can live at peace with God and
yourself.
Does honesty always mean telling everything I know?
• E C C L E S I A S T E S 3 :7 | A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
• PR O VE R B S 2 9 :2 0 | There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without
thinking.
• C O L O SS I A NS 4 :6 | Let your conversation be gracious and attractive.
• PR O VE R B S 1 1 :1 | The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate
weights. (See note on page 567.)
• MA L A C H I 3 :5 | “I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress
widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these
people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
• 1 C O R I NT H I A NS 6 :9 -1 0 | Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the
Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who . . . are thieves, or greedy people . . .
or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
If you want God’s blessing, you must live by his standards of fairness and justice. Cheating
violates a holy God. Cheating and godliness cannot live together in peace. One must give
in to the other. Cheating is the opposite of honesty because the motives behind it are
always to deceive someone else. How can anyone trust a cheater?
• R O MA NS 1 3 :9 | The commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not
murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These . . . are summed up in this one
commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Cheating is evidence that you do not love or respect the person you cheated and that you
are thinking only of yourself.
What is integrity?
• 1 C H R O NI C L E S 2 1 :2 4 | “I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not
present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”
• MI CA H 6 :8 | No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires
of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
• J O B 2 :3 | Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest
man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays
away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm
him without cause.”
Integrity is character and conduct in harmony with God and his Word.
• PSA L M 1 5 :1 -2 | Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence
on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth
from sincere hearts.
HelpFinder
Why does cheating matter to God? Is it always wrong?
H
Honesty should not be confused with gossip. Just because you know something doesn’t
mean you should tell everyone about it. Honesty also involves integrity, making sure that
what you say is helpful and builds others up rather than tears them down. The person who
thinks before speaking is often the wisest.