Another weekend for soups, hot chocolate, and baking! I hope you enjoyed some family time and managed something nice for yourself, as well!

Since this is the last week in February (I really can’t believe I’m writing that!) the message about honesty includes a bit about the responsibilities we carry when speaking and modeling truth. Dennis Prager, American author, columnist, speaker, and talk show host has this to say:

Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it’s about how we treat other people. -Dennis Prager

You see, being honest is as much about the conscientious treatment of others as it is about integrity. We need to be accountable for the how in equal proportion to the what when we are honest. Think of a time when someone offered you a truth and made you feel inadequate or foolish. That wasn’t a fond memory, I’m sure. Now recall a time when you were confronted with an honest comment by someone who delivered the message with love and compassion. I would guess that was a time when you learned something about yourself in a way that caused personal growth and maybe even raised your level of esteem for the other person.

We daily face opportunities to respond in honesty, whether it be to offer suggestions or advice, give correction, reveal how we feel, or simply acknowledge how someone else is feeling. If we’re sensitive to the way we convey our honesty, bridges can be constructed, and relationships formed and strengthened.

Speak the truth in love this week and let the goodness that we see in each of you be visible to those with whom you interact!