Honesty: Being a 'Yes Yes, No No person'

I want to talk about a real personal revelation I've had over the past few weeks.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:37: 'Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.'

Lies hold such a power over us. I especially find that I struggle with telling the truth or, at least, the whole truth. One of the key qualities Jesus attributed to himself was truth; he said 'I am the way, the truth and the life' in John 14:6. If we're trying to imitate and image Jesus to the world, how do we approach simply telling the truth?

This is something God convicts me of again and again. I find the biggest reason for my lies or my withholding of the truth is avoiding awkward situations or conflicts.

If I'm annoyed with someone or upset by something they've done, I tend to just bottle it up. If they ask me, I might tell them, sometimes I don't even do that.

This is easier said than done, but by far the most godly and beneficial way is, as soon as someone upsets you, to tell them in love and grace what they have done and why it upset you or annoyed you. It's so simple. It might be awkward, pride might be hurt on both sides, but the problem will be resolved, issues will be brought to light and it's so much better for everyone involved than the alternative. The alternative is brewing and it happens in the dark of our individuality and pride.

Someone says something which upsets someone else. That person gets down about it, the other person notices their change in attitude and, before you know it, there's miscommunication and ill-feeling, harboured negativity, doubt, mistrust, bitterness, anger. The devil works in the dark of our rugged individualism but God calls us to open, honest, loving community. We can sometimes only believe this open-ness applies only between ourselves and God but it doesn't, it's interpersonal too!

Truth isn't just responsive, it's active, all the time. I wish I could see more and more people just truthfully, lovingly approach their problems head-on. It's one of the deepest desires in my heart for my walk with God to be an honest 'Yes Yes, No No person'. We have to break this power that the enemy has to make us islands. Clear communication, frank and gracious discussion and a valuation of truth and growth over comfort and conflict-avoidance is SO important in all our relationships. We are to be honestly interconnected with God and with each other.

The more we deny truth and suppress it, the more we open ourselves up to the enemy and in reality when we deny truth, we deny Christ. 'I am the truth' he said; part of the quality of God is truth. When we attack it or suppress it in any form, we really attack and suppress God's character and it's reflection in ourselves. I implore you and challenge myself to open up our lives, our thoughts and feelings not just to God but to each other. I'll say my mantra for this just one more time: 'The devil grows his harvest in the darkness of our individualism and pride.'

Pray with me:
'Father God, help me to live a life of honesty, humility and godly communication. Let my 'Yes' be 'Yes' and my 'No' be 'No'. I want to live with integrity and truth because you are integrity and truth. Break down the boundaries between me and yourself and between me and other believers so that we might live in the light of truth. Help me to value communal truth over individual comfort because I know this is the path to peace. Lord, I love you and I love your truth. To your name be all glory, honour and blessing. In Jesus' name which is truth itself, Amen.'