"The world has taken a roller-coaster ride down the slippery slope of dishonesty." p. 193
"Honesty describes the character of God..." p. 193
"The Savior constantly rebuked those professed one thing publicly but lived differently in their hearts. He praised those who lived without deception." p. 194
"There is no innocence in deception." p. 194
"For those moving toward the Savior, honesty and integrity become increasingly important." p. 194
THE CHARACTER OF GOD
"God, our Father, cannot be deceived." p. 195
"Remember, God knows the thoughts and the intents of our heart." p. 195
"The Lord speaks very strongly about not covering or hiding our sins." p. 196
"...the Lord's honesty with me allows me to be honest with Him, with myself, and with those I have hurt." p. 196
LIVING THE TRUTH
"Being honest is living the truth, not simply telling the truth." p. 199
"Dishonesty and immorality are companions in sin." p. 199
"Any communication that intentionally distorts, exaggerates, sensationalizes, or minimizes truth is wrong and represents evil forms of deception and duplicity." p. 200
"We may deceive ourselves and others, but we cannot deceive God!" p. 200
LANCE
Lance's grandpa's funeral went well. He was happy to see a lot of relatives he hadn't seen for awhile. He was happy Hailey was there, too.
At the funeral, many stories were told about Lance's grandpa, but the one that stood out most was when Lance's grandpa's bishop said a few words at the end of the service.
The bishop recalled, "David was always an upright, honest man. In fact, just a few months ago, he came to my office to share some of his concerns. He knew he wasn't doing well physically and just felt like he had to make right anything he felt might be left undone. He wanted to return to the presence of our Savior being fully clean. Now, for anyone who knows him, David is a man of integrity and what he felt had to be shared with the bishop, many of us would have just kept between ourselves and our Father in Heaven. That is David, though. He is honest to his core."
The bishop's words landed heavily on Lance's heart. Later that day, he wrote in his journal: "Said goodbye to grandpa today. I have always looked up to him. I want to be just like him. I will miss him so much. I'm going to do my best to make him proud by trying to be as honest I can with everyone ... including myself and my Heavenly Father. I know too well what it feels like to hide. Although it's embarrassing sometimes, I've learned that telling the truth is best way to go."
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