Devotional Reflection-Honesty

Before posting, please make sure you have reviewed the 4.1 Discussion: Devotional Reflection-Honesty page*

Getting Started

Effective leaders are generally viewed as honest by employees. Honesty includes keeping everyone aware of what is going on within the organization — good and bad. “If you never lie, you will not have to remember what you said.” Truth and honesty can be challenging to carry out because we don’t want to be the bearers of bad news. However, in the long run, honesty allows the right solutions to be applied to resolve problems.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of the importance of honesty in a leader.

Resources

• Bible (New International Version)

Background Information

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” Thomas Jefferson

Honesty is so much more than telling the truth. Honesty encompasses being trustworthy, loyal, and sincere. Honesty encourages openness; it allows us to have consistency in how we present facts. We earn the respect of others when we exhibit honest intentions in our speech and actions.

When we think about what honesty means, being truthful comes to mind, not lying. It would be difficult to follow someone who was not honest or lied all the time. We want to know that our leader knows right from wrong. We want our leaders to be honest because their honesty is a reflection upon our own honesty. If honesty is the most important “building block” in the leader-follower relationship, then we must make it a key element in how we conduct ourselves. The Bible speaks clearly to how God feels about honesty in several verses.

Read Proverbs 12:17 and Proverbs 6:16-19.

“Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit: (Proverbs 12:17, NIV).

“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 6:16-19, NIV).

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Take a moment to reread Proverbs 12:17 and Proverbs 6:16-19.
3. Reflect and respond to the following prompts:
   1. Recall a situation where you demonstrated/experienced a lack of honesty. Write a brief summary of how you remember it.
   2. Did this cause you to distrust someone or cause someone to distrust you? How did you work through this distrust?
   3. How has your faith changed your character to make you more honest?
   4. Look back to Workshop Two and the devotional on Integrity. What do you see as differences between honesty and integrity? How do these two traits go hand in hand?