Galatians 2:14
‘But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews.”‘
Paul saw the inconsistency. It was glaring. However, because Peter may have been the one to start it, the people weren’t going to complain. It took someone of Paul’s stature to bring it up.
Paul’s choice of words were “they were not straightforward”. Honesty and integrity are key traits of the christian. We need to own them within ourselves, our relationship with God and with others.
To lie to ourselves is a problem. This might be done to hide from a guilty conscience. It also might be done as a defense from trauma. The psychological term is to dissociate. The Lord gave us the ability to do this to protect ourselves from traumatic experiences. Something might be too painful to handle. An abusive parent could cause this. The fact that the one who should be the protector and greatest fan is mean, could cause a child to dissociate. This is meant to be temporary. We are supposed to process this with loved ones. If there isn’t one who cares, then their is self blame. “I am not worthy of love.”
We need to be honest with God. The first display of dishonesty was when Adam and Eve hid from God after the fall. He sought them out and brought up the issue. This is a demonstration of His love. To stay hidden allows the problem to worsen. Our sin and self will causes us to hide from the Lord. He lovingly persists to reach out to us. Revelations 3 says that Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He won’t break down the door. He will only enter, if invited.
Our misunderstanding of God causes us to fear Him (not the healthy fear). We think He will require us to labor endlessly and give our money away. Images of monks come mind. So we try to fly under the radar and hide from Him.
In reality He wants our joy to be full. He’s the one who created our thirst for it. Which is odd, as that’s the reason many hide from the Lord, they He’ll rob them of joy. Jesus said, “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest for your souls.” That dispels our fears. We can be open and straightforward with God.
We need to be honest and straightforward with others. Matthew 5:37 says, “Let what you say be simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” At times we try to spin our way out of trouble. Why we might not be lying, but we are trying to hide the truth. This doesn’t generate trust. This situation has us answering others questions.
Other times we are to bring up issues. Matthew 18:15 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” We are establishing boundaries. We can’t allow others to treat us abusively. It isn’t right for us or them. We need to be straightforward with others.
Lord, thank You for the message of honesty. Thank You for that instruction, as well as how You direct us in those ways.