By: Cordell Holloway, The Way I See It

I read a report recently that was very disturbing to me. It reported that more people say they have cheated on their marriage companion, both male and female than on their income tax returns or expense accounts. Nearly half say that if they scratched another care in a parking lot they would drive away without leaving a note (I have been the recipient of that) although eight-nine percent say it would be wrong to do so.

Perhaps the question should not be “…why does God demand such honesty of us?”, but rather “why do we tolerate such dishonesty?” Jeremiah says “the heart is deceitful above all things…” (Jer. 17:9). For most folks today it says “you shall know the truth and the truth will make you squirm.”

The mother ask the older brother, “… did you bite your brother?” We know that honesty has its consequences. So we learn to say, “uhhh, well that depends on how you define ‘bite’. “Did you bite your brother?” “That all depends. He hit me and I just reacted in a way I thought was appropriate. So Mom it was all his fault. I’m a victim of nurture and nature.” Every family who has reared more than one child has experienced something similar to the foregoing.

We smile and say “yea that happened at our house. We might be surprised to hear the psychiatrist say “you have truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom.” And that’s the truth about truth and for this time that’s the way I see it.

Cordell Holloway is a retired Church of Christ minister and can be reached at any time by calling (706) 657-8521 or by writing him at 5 Valley Estates Dr., Trenton, GA 30752.