by Anna Hodges

Created on: February 09, 2010   Last Updated: February 18, 2010

Three of the most important attributes of a Christian are honesty, integrity, and courage. As children of the almighty and holy God, we are to be the salt of the earth and show God to a lost world. When they become aware that we are Christians, they watch us very closely to see if our actions speak as loud as our words. Our behavior can mean the difference between a lost soul coming to God or rejecting Him. God’s Word has many examples of the consequences we face when we do or do not portray these kinds of characteristics. (All scripture references in this writing are taken from the King James Version Bible.)

We learn the importance of honesty as children if our parents teach us that “honesty is always the best policy”. Lying will come back to bite us every time we do it, no matter how small the lie. It will also destroy our witness for the Lord. One example in God’s Word of the value of honesty is when Saul disobeyed God, and then lied about it. As a result, he lost his kingdom to another. In I Samuel 15, God sent Samuel to Saul with explicit instructions for destroying the Amalekites. Verse 3: “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The people of Amalek were guerrilla terrorists who lived to assault other nations and take their families and possessions captive. They attacked the Israelites when they first came to the Promised Land.

Verses 9: “But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” Saul showed disrespect for God when he chose to disobey Him, but he also lied to Samuel about what he had done. Verse 13: “…and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” Saul evidently did not think his lie through before telling it. Verse 14: “And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul was arrogant in thinking that he could do whatever he chose and get away with it.

It is true that one lie usually leads to another and another… Saul responded to Samuel with his next lie in verse 15: “And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites:

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