The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. – Proverbs 12:22 (NIV)

Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight. – Proverbs 12:22 (KJV)

52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 35
This week’s theme:  God’s Life Hacks, simple Biblical truths to increase the fruitfulness and happiness of our lives.

God’s Life Hack:  Be Honest

A recent Gallup report listed the most trusted professions in the U.S.  At the top of the list of “most trusted” were nurses, military officers, grade school teachers, and medical doctors.  Anchored at the bottom of the list were members of Congress, car salespeople, and political lobbyists.  In some ways these results aren’t surprising.  How many of us are really shocked to learn that people distrust politicians?  But the percentages associated with the results are telling.  Although 82% of people rated the honesty of nurses as “high or very high” and 71% gave that rating to military officers, only 11% believe members of Congress are honest.  The numbers for TV and newspaper reporters were 23% and 25%, respectively.  In short, most people think reporters and members of Congress are lying to us…and they don’t like it.  The righteous hate what is false… (Proverbs 13:5 NIV)

Proverbs 12:22 tells us that God feels the same way about honesty — He “detests” lies and “delights” in people who are truthful and trustworthy.  Further, He expects us to be honest in everything we do, no matter how big or how small, at home, at school, at work, in our churches, in our communities, on social media, etc…  Jesus Himself said:
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. – Luke 16:10 (NIV)
(see our previous post for this verse here)

The words that come from our lips reveal our values and our character.  If those words are lies, they’ll be detested and so will we.  If they’re honest and truthful, then those words are our Lord’s delight…and so are we.

Here’s a link to more verse posts on  God’s Life Hacks.

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