Life Lesson: Being Straightforward

And said, O you who are full of all deceit and all unscrupulousness, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? Acts 13:10

Forsaking the straight way, they have gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. 2 Peter 2:15

To take the straight way of the Lord or of the truth is to live an upright life without crookedness and bias, without unrighteousness. In my walk with the Lord these days, I have been reminded time and again to be straightforward in dealing with matters, things, and people. The straight way of the Lord is the way of the truth and the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. He never was crooked or hypocritical. To Him, a yes means a yes, and a no, no. Nothing in between. Just straightforward. This is the lesson I am learning these days. 

Even as I was blogging about this experience, a phone call came and a brother suddenly asked me for some money for the reason that it was an emergency. Having learned from my past experience, I cannot be diplomatic any longer. I straightforwardly asked him for what purpose, to which he replied he could not tell with the people around him. So my reply was that it was not proper for me to give money just like that and that I did not feel good as it may affect even our brotherly relationship. I simply exercised myself to be straightforward. A no in my inward being must be a no in my outward reaction.

In many other cases of dealing with different people, I learned to exercise my spirit and discern the matter properly first. Once I was clear, I said a straight no or a yes. My yes should not become a no, and my no should not become a yes. This is a matter of righteousness. 

By nature, I used to be a kind and soft person who could easily sympathize with people. Sometimes, this character of mine had been taken advantage of by a good number of people who knew me. In fact, in some cases, I had been cheated. But now, the Lord has taught me to be straightforward. If I discerned that certain things were not proper according to the truth of the Bible, I must reject it right away. I must not try to beat around the bush and somehow try to justify it to please others. Even in spiritual matters, I must discern what things were appropriate for the time, not meddle with every person and matters just because they are people in the church and the matter is "spiritual." I am now learning to be straightforward in all my dealings. Be it personal, family, church, official, or even with other people. Even in money matters, I must spend where there is the need to spend and not spend where there is no need to spend. In fact, to be straightforward is also to live a simple and pure life. In the matter of faith and in the matter of living, I must be straightforward. 

Lord, grace me to be straightforward in all my dealings and relationships.