Be Honest With Yourself
Main Scripture: Psalm 15
When we take our car to the shop we usually want the mechanic to be honest with us about what may need fixing. When we go to pickup the test that we took last week from our favorite teachers office we want them to be honest with us about the grade that we earned. We all yearn for honesty and want others to be honest with us. Yet, why are we not honest with our own selves? I can think of several times today that I have not personally been honest with myself.
When we aren’t honest with our own self we allow sin to grow within our lives where we know it shouldn’t be growing. The only way to be honest with yourself is to place yourself around good God Loving & fearing people. Like you hear me say often, you are who you hang around. Another way to be honest with yourself is simply ask “Would Jesus approve of the way I am currently if he were standing next to me right now?” Truth is, if you know Jesus as your Lord and savior than he lives in and through you through the power of the Holy Spirit. See, God knows every thought you have and every move and action you make. There’s nothing you can tell him that he doesn’t know. But we do need to be honest with ourselves. When we fail, mess up, and miss the mark we need to be honest and recognize that we failed. Because if we don’t, it only grows and becomes much worse than we could have ever imagined. Psalm 15 is a good representation of us needing to be honest with ourselves.
Psalm 15
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
Who you are when you think no one is watching really matters. Integrity matters. I want to encourage you on this Saturday to have a strong sense of integrity within yourself. Meaning, the same person you are when no one is around is the same person you are during our Wednesday night services. God knows who you are. So then why shouldn’t we know ourselves enough to be honest with ourselves.
I know there are things about me that are wrong, sinful and disgusting. Today, I need to recognize those things for what they are and simply ask God to clean me up. On my own, I can’t do it.
As I end today’s devotion, let’s pray.
God,
You knew me before even time began. You hold my whole life in your hands. God clean me up of my sin and make me more like you. I ask God that you will help me be honest with myself. So that I will realize I’m not perfect. I need you more everyday. More and more.
Amen.
Love and Blessings,
Brady Henderson
Student Minister
Transformed Student Ministry
Hillcrest Baptist Church
Transformed Student Ministry 
Great message Brady! One lesson I learned late in life… in order to be truly honest with yourself, you MUST make it a priority to define who you are. I’ve always been a people pleaser and I spend most of my life trying to be who I thought everyone else wanted me to be. Everything about me was defined by what society expected of me, my family and friends expected of me, what my teachers expected of me, etc. But I never set expectations for myself! I had Christ in my heart but it was easy to set the expectations God had for me aside to accommodate the wants/ needs of the people around me. Your commitment to yourself and to God should always come before the expectations of any other person on this Earth. Not a single one of those people will love you the way God loves you or the way you should love yourself!
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