Honest Really?

 We as children don't have to be taught bad things, we are born in sin. We have to be taught integrity, gratefulness. It seems we always look for someone to blame. Do we really look inside, look in the mirror, and take responsibility for the decisions we make? Or is there always someone else to blame. As an example, I might use some of the marriages I was in. There were red flags that I ignored. I made the decision to go-ahead after being warned. Can I really blame anyone else? Proverbs tells us the wise see danger and make preparations to protect themselves. The foolish ignore those red flags and suffer the consequences, or pay the price. What if I had really asked a hard question, why am I going ahead with this in spite of the warnings? Am I able to look at myself in the mirror and be honest with myself? Or do I justify my actions with what I want? Ask the question a second time and add really? Honesty needs to be a core value, are we honest when it hurts? You can deal with the truth, you have a starting point, you can fix it with God's help. If you cannot be honest, if you lie to yourself, do you even know where to start fixing things? I had a spouse once that always tried to tell me what she thought I wanted to hear. That's not the truth, where do you start if you don't know the cold hard facts? Can we be honest with the person in the mirror or do we always seek someone else to blame? Even if you listen to bad advice, is it not you that made the final decision to follow that advice?  Do we accept responsibility? Or is there always someone else to blame except us, except me? I really think this deserves a second look, am I being honest really? Ask those hard questions a second time and look inside. Are my motives pure? There were a couple of points Andy Stanley made:  if something bothers you, do you let it bother you until you understand why it bothers you? If there is tension in your spirit, do you give it attention? I think we could make better decisions if we are truly honest with ourselves first of all. The heart is desperately wicked and we try to justify our actions, we try to as Andy said, sell ourselves. I want this, is it really a need? How many times have we given in to advertising and never used the thing we just had to have?  Are we honest.... really?  God bless, LVZ.