February 7, 2026 | www.gospelofjesuschrist.blog | River Wilde
INTEGRITY
“The firm adherence to a code of moral and ethical principles, characterized by honesty, consistency, and sincerity in actions, even when no one is watching.
Alright “Church” family, let’s start this one off by asking each of you to answer the following question:
How “Honest” are you with YOURSELF?
For today, we are just going to discuss honesty to ourselves, NOT others. And definitely NOT God, for he already knows everything.
“A person being honest with themselves practices deep self-awareness, admitting their true feelings, motives, and flaws without denial or ego. It involves acknowledging uncomfortable realities, taking responsibility for actions, and living authentically based on personal values rather than external pressures.”
Now that you know the boundaries of the question, let’s establish a baseline here with your answer, by choosing a number on a scale from 0 to 10; 10 being the highest ranking.
Hold onto that number for now, because I’ll be asking the same question at the end of this writing for you to consider in your self-evaluation.
We are very aware that satan uses things in our lives to deceive us. Most of us are focused on the major deception that is here / coming from false religious teachings. But I’d like you to spend a moment and give thought to another cleverly disguised “tactic” that satan is using with YOU directly…”Not Being Honest with yourself.”
I’m going to just be BOLD here for a moment. Do you know that many of us take our weaknesses, flaws, and shortcomings, and gloss them over with some “untruths” to help us feel better about ourselves. We do this almost as an “ego self-preservation.” We LIE to ourselves because it makes us feel better.
Here is your first chance to be Honest with Yourself… Do you do this? Let me make it easier for you to answer: I Do. But does this even matter? It makes us feel better, so that’s healthy, right?
To answer that question, let’s explore what that type of deception actually leads to…Good vs Bad.
Having a good feeling about ourselves might be Good, but what is this behavior preventing?
Here are some thoughts:
Self-Deception Blocks Repentance
If we refuse to see our true condition, we never bring it to Christ for healing.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
— 1 John 1:8 (KJV)
God does not heal what we pretend isn’t there. Self-deception creates a false peace—we feel safe, but remain unchanged.
Pride Replaces Dependence on God
Spiritual dishonesty often hides behind pride: “I’m fine. I don’t need correction.”
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
— Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV)
When we trust our own assessment instead of God’s light, we stop leaning on Him. Pride blinds us to our need for grace.
We Become Hearers, Not Doers
We can read Scripture, attend church, even quote verses—yet remain unchanged if we won’t apply truth to ourselves.
“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.”
— James 1:23 (KJV)
The mirror shows reality—but spiritual dishonesty walks away and forgets what was revealed.
Fellowship with God Is Broken
God walks in truth and light, not performance or pretending.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.”
— 1 John 1:7 (KJV)
Walking in the light requires honesty—confession to God, humility, and openness before God. Hiding dims that fellowship.
Growth Stalls and Fruit Withers
Spiritual maturity depends on truth at the root.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”
— Psalm 139:23 (KJV)
Those who invite God’s searching grow. Those who resist it stagnate—even while appearing “religious.”
We Replace God’s Truth with Comforting Illusions
Spiritual dishonesty often seeks affirmation over correction.
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
— Proverbs 21:2 (KJV)
Truth may wound—but it heals. Comforting lies numb the soul.
Let me give you a real-life example from the perspective of a life coach. Working with a client who was using pain medication or alcohol, as their strategy in dealing with some troubling issues, that they were having.
Here was the lie. “I need this to cope. I can’t function in “reality” unless I have this medication. The meds allow me to run away into a safe place.”
This is a lie, however wrapped with some truth. The real issue is something that has troubled this person. The drug or alcohol is a coping choice. Does this person need the alcohol to cope, or is the better question: Does this person need to address the troubling issue, and face it in honesty?
By not being true to themselves, they are only postponing recovery, and even making things worse.
Many of us are aware of interventions that we have seen or even been a part of. An intervention is simply forcing a person to see the TRUTH about themselves, and offer a solution out of love and caring for that person.
Let me share some less dramatic examples of not being truthful with yourself.
Most people don’t stall because they lack ability—they stall because they’re quietly lying to themselves in ways that feel safe or familiar. Here are some of the most common ones I see, phrased plainly and without fluff.
Confusing intention with action
“I want to change” becomes a stand-in for actually changing.
People tell themselves they’re moving forward because they’ve thought, prayed, planned, or felt convicted—but none of those are the same as doing. Intention feels productive, so it sedates urgency.
Progress only responds to movement.
Calling fear “discernment” or “wisdom”
“I’m just being careful” is often fear in church clothes.
Fear loves respectable disguises: waiting on perfect clarity, needing more confirmation, not wanting to get ahead of God, or “not feeling peace yet.” Wisdom includes courage.
If the answer is always wait, it’s usually fear talking.
Blaming circumstances instead of patterns
“This season is just hard” becomes permanent.
Life is hard—but when the same struggles repeat year after year, the problem isn’t the season. It’s a pattern. People avoid naming patterns because patterns imply responsibility.
Honesty begins when someone says, “This keeps happening because I keep choosing the same thing.”
Using busyness to avoid growth
“I’ve just had a lot going on.”
Busy people can hide from themselves indefinitely. Activity creates the illusion of forward motion without requiring inner change. Stillness is dangerous—because it exposes what’s actually broken or unhealed.
If someone never has time to reflect, it’s often intentional. Read that one again…
Over-spiritualizing what is actually avoidance
“God hasn’t opened the door yet.”
Sometimes God has opened the door—and the person doesn’t like what’s on the other side. So they spiritualize hesitation. They wait for God to do what He’s already asked them to do.
God rarely drags people forward. He invites—and waits for obedience.
Protecting identity over pursuing truth
“This is just who I am.”
This one is huge. People cling to familiar labels: anxious, broken, misunderstood, blunt, wounded, unlucky, overlooked. Growth threatens identity, and identity feels safer than freedom.
Healing means letting an old version of yourself die. Many refuse. Is this starting to make sense?
Demanding certainty before obedience
“I need to be sure.”
But certainty usually follows obedience—it doesn’t precede it. People want guarantees, outcomes, and safety nets before they move. That’s not faith; that’s control.
Progress always involves stepping forward with incomplete information.
Comparing instead of confronting
“At least I’m not like them.”
Comparison is a sedative. It keeps people from asking, “Am I becoming who I’m supposed to be?” As long as someone can find a worse example, they don’t have to face their own stagnation.
Growth requires self-confrontation, not self-justification.
Calling comfort “peace”
“I finally feel at peace.”
Peace produces clarity and movement. Comfort produces numbness and stagnation. People often settle into a life that no longer stretches them and call it peace—when it’s really resignation.
Real peace doesn’t shrink your life, it enhances the goodness that you already have inside of you.
Avoiding grief, guilt, or anger by suppressing truth
“I’m over it.”
Unprocessed pain doesn’t disappear—it redirects. People who refuse to be honest about what hurt them, what they lost, or what they’re angry about end up stuck emotionally at the age of the wound.
Progress requires telling the truth about the pain, not pretending it’s gone.
The quiet thread underneath all of this
Most people aren’t lying maliciously. They’re lying protectively. Honesty threatens comfort, identity, relationships, and certainty. So, the mind edits reality to preserve stability.
Sometimes being honest with yourself requires certain tools to help you successfully deal with the truth exposed. There is NO GREATER too that God! Have you considered giving your “challenge” to Him as part of your moving forward?
I can promise you that this is the most effective first step in being 100% honest with ourself. Once God has possession of this “problem” you will see, as I have seen numerous times, He will direct you to the next step, which might be a counselor, a friend, or just leaning on the strength that He will give to you.
No let me ask the question that we began with. On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your response to this question:
How honest are you with yourself?
I can safely predict that many of you will score lower the second time that you answered the question. Why is that? Because you are being honest with yourself, after we have uncovered the deceptions that the adversary has placed over our eyes.
It doesn’t matter if we have one day, or 6 months until the rapture happens. Today is a good day to look at our integrity. Flush out the deceptions from the adversary, and let’s begin healing, or at least start moving forward in a positive direction.
I hope to have accomplished one thing with this writing today, and that is for each of us to see and realize how much we need God in our lives. To strengthen our partnership with Him, and stop relying on ourselves so much. TRUST HIM to deal with your most sensitive challenge in life. You might have already proven that you can not do this alone, so…that’s why the time has come for you to rely on your partner…God! Watch Him work a miracle.
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