Dishonesty

[Windwold]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Chrysostom]

To pray for those who have wronged you and to show them patience is a fruit of the Spirit that I cannot but praise. Yet I must also speak plainly, for the soul's health is at stake in such trials. When you speak of them breaking down all resistance to dishonesty, you speak truly of a terrible stripping away. For the man who pursues dishonest gain, even when success seems to crown him, is more wretched than any man alive. The absurdity of greed is already a great madness, but when hell is added and the loss of the kingdom, what wailings are due! The rich array that comes from dishonesty is a heavy charge against a soul, a satanical display that starves the needy and pierces the wearer with countless wounds, leaving him stripped bare of all true honor before the spectators of heaven.

But see then what a trial this is permitted to be for you. Affliction need not be the parent of grief; it can become an occasion of gladness. The issue is not merely their eye, but the eye of your own soul. For truth, like the sun, encounters clear eyes and easily enlightens them. If it masters a soul not, the fault lies in the soul's infirmity, not in the truth's weakness. So take heed that the wrong done to you does not become a snare in your own breast. Are you certain that in all your dealings, in your own buying and selling, in your desires for a just outcome, you have gathered no dishonesty of your own? Even those who seem to live by honest labor often bring falsehood and covetousness into their work, being taken up with earthly things only, ever desirous to increase their goods.

Do not nourish your soul on inferior dishes before the royal banquet, filling yourself with the food of resentment and a demand for vindication while you wait for the Lord's true justice. The prayer that their resistance to honesty be built up is a noble one, but be not as those dull of temper who require sight and sensible things, that Christ must show Himself in the immediate punishment of the wicked. A quiet and peaceable life is nothing if it lacks all godliness and honesty. The thief who is not chastised, the covetous man who seems to thrive, is truly dissolute and licentious. Leave their judgment to God, and see to it that your own life is supported by godliness, that you are not one who professes truth with the mouth but denies it in the secret works of the heart. Let this trial make you noble and firm, proving that what you have spoken in truth, your patience and your faith, is found to be truth in the proving.

 

[Silas]

It is right that you brought this before the Lord. Lies are a serious weight, not just because they harm others, but because to sustain them a person must gradually break down every inner resistance to honesty. What you are asking for them, that their resistance to dishonesty would be rebuilt, is exactly what only God can do. When someone hardens their heart against the truth, they are not merely making a one-time mistake; they are dulling their own conscience until deception feels natural. But the same Lord who commanded light to shine out of darkness can restore what has been torn down.

You mentioned the truth setting us free, and that is no small hope. Lies always promise a shortcut, but they lead only into deeper captivity. The enemy is the father of lies, and he works to keep eyes blind so people cannot see what is truly at stake. That is why prayer is such a powerful weapon. We ask that the Spirit of truth would break through the fog and bring clear sight, because when someone finally sees their dishonesty for what it is, they also see the path home.

Remember that God’s judgment is always according to truth. Not according to perception, not according to what a clever argument can spin, but according to the full and naked reality that He sees in the heart. This is both a warning and a comfort. No lie escapes His notice, and no act of honesty is wasted. For those who continue in unrighteousness and do not obey the truth, there is indeed a wrath that is stored up. That is why your prayer for their repentance is so urgent, you are asking that they would not have to face that.

But real change is not just feeling sorry. There is a sorrow of the world that produces only death, a regret that is self-centered and temporary. Godly sorrow, however, works a true change of direction. When you pray for these people to practice honesty, you are asking for more than a private admission of guilt. You are asking that truth would take root in their actions, that they would begin to walk in it. That is what matters. Knowing the truth or nodding in agreement to it is easy; the fruit of repentance is a life that does the truth.

It can be painful to tell the truth, and that is often why people flee from it. They prefer to be told they are fine rather than to hear what needs to change. The proud have forged lies, but the psalmist held fast to God’s precepts and delighted in His law. That is the kind of steady ground you yourself can stand on while you wait for God to work in them. Keep your own feet on the path of truth, and let your own life be a quiet witness that honesty is not a burden but a refuge.

Be patient and continue in meekness. Instruct when you have opportunity, not with frustration, but with a genuine hope that God will grant them repentance and bring them to acknowledge the truth. Sometimes truth must be spoken clearly, and people may receive it as an enemy. But the real enemy is the lie, not the one who tells them plainly. The more light a person has, the greater the responsibility, but the greater the mercy when they turn.

So I echo your prayer: that their eyes would be opened before the weight of consequence falls. Legal oaths and judicial processes exist precisely because public dishonesty unravels trust in all of life. God takes false witness seriously, and the penalties are severe, both in this world and in the judgment to come. Yet the desire of the Lord is not destruction but a heart that turns back. Your showing them patience and kindness mirrors the grace you have received, and that is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Continue to entrust them to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Keep walking in truth yourself, and do not grow weary in praying for those still tangled in lies.