Summary:
Honesty and integrity as described in the Bible and different people the author thinks are honest and dishonest.
Honesty and Integrity
2 Kings 12:15"They did not question the men, into, whose hand they gave the money to be given to the workmen: for they dealt faithful"
Proverbs 28:6"Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich."
Jeremiah 5:1"Run back and froth, through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and know, and seek in all places, if you can find anyone, if there is any that have a judgment against them, that seek the truth, then I will pardon it."
1 Thessalonians 2:10"You are witnesses, and God also, how holily, justly and honest, we behaved our selves in front of all that believe."
Job 2:3"And the LORD said to Satan, Have you seen my servant Job, there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an honest man, one that fear God, and cast out all evil? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you are turning me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Psalm 111:8"They stand fast for ever and ever, and are always in truth and justice. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD"
Proverbs 2:7"He laid up solid wisdom for the righteous: he is a shield to them that walk with integrity."
Proverbs 10:9"He that walks justly walks surely: but he that cheats, his ways shall be known."
Titus 2:7"Do away with all your self, a pattern of good works: in teaching incorruptness, gravity, sincerity."
Psalm 119:1" Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord."
Dishonest People in the Bible
SATAN
Satan was not honest when he told all the angels he had persuaded to follow him that he had a better form of government than God did, and that if it came to a fight, many more angels would join them when they saw how unfair God was, and then they would win! When some of them had second thoughts and were going to talk to God, Satan lied again and told them that it was too late and that they could not turn back and repent. Satan also lied to Eve in the garden when he told Eve that she would know as much as God knows, and that if they ate the fruit they would not surely "die", and after Adam and Eve ate the "forbidden" fruit, they felt separated from God and His love (not that God would abandon them, they just got farther away). And still to this day, all around the world, Satan is deceiving a mass amount of people every day, telling lies and influencing or luring kids and adults of all ages to look at stuff no Christian would ever look at or ever think of. Especially drugs, now illegal drugs are all over the place. The world is full of sin and maybe it all started when Satan saw Jesus creating part of the new earth and said "Why should He be able to create and not me? After all I AM the head angel. What makes Him better then me"" or maybe Satan was walking and saw his own reflection and said "My, am I handsome or what!" or maybe he said, "Wow look at me, I am ALMOST as beautiful as God, you know what I could be better then God, and in fact I am!" and from then on Satan always had a bad attitude, and an "I am better than every one" personality. And now he considers himself better than God and above Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God Himself. Satan was full of greed; hatred to his fellow man and a deep bitter pit was in his heart, like a giant hole in his chest. And all of this happened because he strayed from the truth, lost all of his integrity and fell into a deep hole of sorrow, despair, sin and hatred. He is now trying to overthrow the Christians. I do not think that he had a lot of shame or integrity, and he was not a very honest angel.
Honest People in the Bible
JOB
Job was a very honest and loyal man, both to God and to his family and friends. Even when Satan was testing Job he was still honest and loyal, and even after all of Jobs sons and daughters had died and all of his cattle and land was destroyed by the devils powers, Job stayed faithful to God. Even when he had boils all over his own body, Job always trusted God with everything he owned and his own life. Job would never do anything, not even sell or buy a calf, without the Lords consent.
Jobs friends told him that bad things only happen to people when they are bad and have sinned against God. Jobs wife told him to curse God and die. She thought of God as mean and irritable because she thought that if anyone cursed God He would kill them. She did not see God the way Job did, as a kind and loving Father. Jobs friends wanted Job to confess his sins to them so they would know what he had done to offend God. Job probably said to them, "This is not because I have not dealt faithfully with God, but because God is testing me and my loyalty to Him." Job always stuck to his gins when it came to his belief in God. He always trusted God and would not let anyone sway him. He did not compromise his beliefs just because his friends told him to. Because of Jobs faith, God rewarded him.
I wish I (and everyone in the world, for that matter) would act like God's servant Job! He was full of wisdom and integrity, never leaving the righteous path, and only doing things that were honest and just. In this day and age, there are opportunities to sin and lie and cheat around every corner. Following Jobs example and not listening to the bad advice of your friends and family, and keeping our eyes on Jesus is the only way to avoid these temptations and traps.
Dishonest People in History
JIM JONES
Jim Jones was a preacher in Indianapolis, Indiana, that started out well getting people of different races to go to church together. He called his church the "Peoples Temple" and concentrated on helping poor and homeless people. He believed he could cure cancer, heart disease and arthritis, but when the government asked him how he did this, he decided to move his church to a wild area in California. He said that the church members would survive the coming nuclear wars better there. After newspapers wrote that he was doing illegal things in his church, he moved some of the members to a place he called "Jonestown" in the country of Guyana. The people lived in a commune and raised fruits, vegetables and animals for food and to sell, and they treated Pastor Jones like he was a prophet. Jim Jones made up a belief he called "Translation" where if everybody killed themselves at the same time they would all move to another planet and live in bliss together!
When a US congressman visited them because some of the relatives of people there were worried about them, a few of the people wanted to leave with them. Some of the security guards shot at the group of people when the were getting ready to leave, and the congressman, three reporters and one person from the church were killed, and eleven others were wounded. The Peoples Temple members discussed it and decided that now would be a good time to try their "Translation" before they got in trouble for the shooting deaths. 638 adults and 276 children were found dead in the jungle several days later, most from drinking poisoned Kool-aid on purpose, but some died from needle injections or gun wounds.
Pastor Jones lied to his people and told them that he could take them to paradise and that he was a one of God's prophets. Instead of reading the Bible for themselves, and thinking for themselves, many many people were deceived into killing themselves and their children for him.
Honest People in History
QUANAH PARKER
"Not only did Quanah pass within the span of a single lifetime from a Stone Age warrior to a statesman in the age of the Industrial Revolution, but he accepted the challenge and responsibility of leading the whole Comanche tribe on the difficult road toward their new existence." - Bill Neeley
Quanah Parker was the last Chief of the Comanches, and believed you should not tell someone something just because it is what they want to hear, or sign something just because it will be easier on you that way. The other chiefs either went to prison for braking treaties, or were hunted down and brought to be held on a reservation. Many of them died in both places. Quanah had warned other Indians not to make any promises that they could not keep. He did not trust the white man, and did not believe that they would keep their words either. Quanah saw that the white ways would overcome, and decided to surrender his whole tribe and try to lead them into adapting to the white ways. He made friends with people like Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Goodnight because he was honest and sincere. He tried to do what was best for Indians and Whites both. He was Superintendent of Schools, but when forced to choose between his job and giving up all but one of his wives, he quit his job. He loved his wives and said he had promised to take good care of them when he married them and that was what he did! He did what he said, and said what he did, making him a great leader, a good negotiator, and an honest man.
Dishonest People Today
JOHN KERRY
John Kerry says he volunteered for military duty. Mr. Kerry did not volunteer for anything, but he did apply for deferment from the military five times. He got the first four, but when he found out that he was turned down for the fifth one, he joined the Naval Reserve. Almost no one ever gets called into service from the Naval Reserve, but they started to soon after he joined.
John Kerry got a Silver Star Medal in the Vietnam War. He wrote up his own report and asked that he be given one himself, and said it was because he jumped out of his boat and ran down an enemy soldier. It turns out that another officer had already jumped from his boat earlier in the day and had already shot down the enemy soldier.
Mr. Kerry also got a Bronze Star Medal. He claimed that he rescued a man from the river. He wrote up his own report again and again recommended that he should be given a medal for this. What had happened was that five boats were heading up a river when one of them hit a mine. Mr. Kerry turned his boat and ran for safety while other boats helped with the men in the water and fired their guns to the shore to see if there were any enemy soldiers around. When the coast was clear and no one had fired back at the other boats, Kerry brought his boat back and picked up a soldier floating in the water waiting to be brought onboard. (To get a Bronze Star there has to be danger and an enemy around somewhere, but John Kerry got one anyway.)
John Kerry also got three Purple Hearts, yet didn't loose any arms, legs, feet, fingers, toes or anything. He didn't even spend one night in any hospitals. But you have to have three purple hearts to get sent home early, and Mr. Kerry quickly got his. Mr. Kerry set a "record" for getting five medals in only 10 weeks of service! Each of Mr. Kerry's wounds could be covered by a Band-Aid, and seemed to have been done to himself. His first Purple Heart request was sent in for himself, but was rejected. Later he got it anyway, but no one knows how. His second one was for blowing up some rice bags with a grenade, but he didn't get out of the way and got rice grains in his bottom that had to be pulled out with tweezers. He got his third one for almost the same thing, then immediately applied to be discharged from service because of the military's three-purple-heart rule.
As soon as he got back he got an interview with congress and told them stories about bad war crimes that he had not even seen, and that could never be proven, and that other people had never even heard of.
Mr. Kerry has voted for every tax raise in the last 18 years, and has voted against American weapons and protective gear made to defend the soldiers.
Mr. Kerry claims to understand the lower classes, but he is hugely wealthy, has never worked, has lots of cars and a bunch of houses, and even has a private jet!
John Kerry has lied about his medals, lied about his war service, lied about his anti-war testimonies, lied about his tax voting record, and lied about his interest in the lower classes.
Honest People Today
DESMOND DOSS
Desmond Doss was a patriotic young man who desperately wanted to serve his country, but believed that the Bible forbid him to kill anyone, even an enemy in wartime. He genuinely qualified for and was even offered a military deferment as a true "conscientious objector", but he wanted to help others and serve his country, so he volunteered to serve as a medic in the front lines of the infantry. He was always willing to try to save a soldiers life, even if his life was in terrible danger. He could have had his night and morning prayers in bed and quietly like many Christian soldiers he knew, or he could have carried a pistol or rifle "just to protect the life of the helpless wounded man" he was caring for, like other conscientious objector medics that he also knew. But he refused, even when his commanders tried to break him down or threatened to have him court-martialed. His prayer on the battlefield was always "Lord, help me to save just one more...just one more, Lord." Many of the men who had threatened to hurt him and had tried to get him out of their units were later rescued by him, even when he was wounded too.
Desmond Doss never ever wrote himself up for a medal or reward of any kind, and yet received the highest military medal ever given, and the only one that has ever been given to a conscientious objector. He said he would not carry or use any weapon, and he did not. He said he would do his very best to save the lives of his fellow soldiers, and he did. Desmond Doss is full of honesty and integrity and is one of the best examples of these things that I can think of in our time.
HONESTY and INTEGRITY
Most of the class was involved in a book report scam. I think we all knew that it was wrong, but the fun and excitement of getting away with something was too much to resist. It was a bad example to everyone else to see us getting away with extra points that we did not deserve.
It is very difficult to gain back trust that has been lost, but I am sincerely hoping that this report will help. Now I will try to stay on the right path and keep my feet out of the mud! I would like to be one of those people who is an example of honesty and integrity, you know, the distinguished looking fellow that always gives back the incorrect change at the store! A fine young man who does what he says, and says what he does, and admits it when he's wrong!
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