1. TRUTHFULNESS Truthfulness vs. deception Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts.

2. Truthfulness is a revealing of facts, before we are put under pressure to do so. Truthfulness is something that is given, not something that is stolen. Being truthful is a character quality that is rare. Most people are only truthful when they have to be, not when they need to be.

3. Parents are embarrassed when their children tell lies, but they may be more embarrassed when their children tell the truth. Why? Because people don’t lead a life of truthfulness. They lead a hidden life, a heart and a mind that is unknown to others. Children are good at exposing the truth about their parents.

4. When in doubt, tell the truth. *Tell the truth about your past on your resume’. *Tell the truth about your marriage to ones that can help you. *Tell the truth about your own faults and sins. *Tell the truth about your feelings… “I’m doing fine” is not always enough.

5. A friend is someone that will give you the truth, and not flatter you with lies. It is one thing to show a man his error, but it’s another thing to put a man in possession of the truth. Justice must be established by truthfulness. Without truth, there can be no justice. If someone is able to give you the truth, then there is chance for real justice and healing. But most are afraid of telling the truth because people don’t want to hear it.

6. Don’t be afraid to tell people that you don’t know. If you don’t know about something, simply say so. Otherwise, this is deceptive and without total truth. Deception is a lie, and a liar is not believed even when he does tell the truth. Truth hurts, but the lies are what leaves the scars and pain.

7. A lie is the deliberate withholding of any part of the truth from someone who has the right to know. Question Who has the right to know your truth?

8. Your family: Does your family know the truth about you? Are you being deceptive to your spouse, children or siblings? We must know that the truth will get out. When it does, are you ready to admit to it and deal with it?

9. The Bible tells us that the truth shall set us free. John 8:32 – “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Free from what? The pain of deception, the depression of knowing that you are not who you think you are, the rejection issues that you face that are the reason for the deception. This is true freedom, being who God made you to be.

10. People will believe the deception faster and longer than they will believe the truth. Lies run while the truth crawls, but the lies never cross the finish line, while the truth crosses all on his own in his own time. Truth builds integrity that will stand on its own. Deception builds dishonor that needs to rely on someone else’s integrity to stand at all.

11. At work: Politicians are usually tactful, but they are not truthful. A good employer and employee will be tactful and truthful. They will tell the truth with tact. If we allow truth to be exposed, then and only then can we see what needs to be done and how to do it. If we hide the truth, then the remedy is also hidden.

12. The average person will see more in tolerance than he will in truth. But if we are tolerant of lies, then we only breed more lies, and more deceit. If your job is in the court room, how many cases are tried on the truth versus a lie? The courts are what they are today because almost everyone lies. Thus, there can be no justice without the truth. Prosecutors feel like they must pad the case because they know that the defendant will lie. What would happen if everyone told the truth?

13. You can’t stretch the truth without making the story pretty thin. Always be honest and never deceive anyone on the job. It will only come back to you as the one that deceived and lied. It may take a lifetime to get back what you lost in one moment.

14. A student of truth will be a student of the open Bible, an open dictionary, and an open mind. Those that think they have all the truth have no room to still search. We must know a truth when we see one, or else, we will be deceived by the lie.

15. Group Go over this story and keep an eye on the truth and be careful not to be deceived.

16. Election time is coming and we have two men that are running for office. The office is that of the President of the United States. One of the candidates was in the war and received more than one purple heart for his bravery. He is liberal in most of the ways that he would run the country. He believes in abortion, and also in gay rights that would allow marriage within the gay community. He has told America that he earned these purple hearts in war. Most of America doesn’t know the real truth. We can’t know if this is true or false unless we were there. Thus, we must find out the truth by people that were there with him, a witness to the actual account. We also must realize that both parties might tell you what you want to hear just to get your vote. Do you think that this man would try to deceive you by not telling the whole truth?

17. The other candidate has been President for four years. He has chosen to take a stance on the defense of this country and has listened to many people give him counsel on how to defend it. We must know that the people who are giving him the advice might have an alternative motive for what they are saying. In other words, they have their own agenda. But what we can look at is his four years that he has been in office and the witnesses of his deeds. Yet, do you think that there are some things that we don’t know, things that he might not want us to know about his mistakes and failures? I might think so. How are we going to vote on these men if we don’t have the facts? And how do we know if the facts that we have are true? Are we voting on the man, his integrity, his character, and his truthfulness? Or do we vote on a party? Now, the object is to be truthful and not be deceived. Are you voting Democrat, Republican, or the man?

18. This is not an exercise in which to steer you into how to vote, nor a way to promote any candidate. This is an exercise to cause you to be truthful in the way that you do vote.