Being Honest vs Being True
Not too long ago, I was in a meeting of the religious type. As we were sitting there discussing a topic that I do not remember, a passage of text was brought up. It is called an Article of Faith. It is the last of thirteen and it read…
“ We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul — We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”
I have heard this passage of text before, but something stuck out to me that immediately provoked a question in my mind. What stuck out to me was the words “We believe in being honest, true…”.
I thought “are not those the same thing? Are not those just synonyms to one another? Why would they put two words with such a close relation in the same sentence when stating a belief for a standard of excellence? What is the difference that the Author of the passage would need us to know by stating such seemingly similar right next to each other?”
I was so intrigued by the thought, I wanted to know. So I did some pondering and some simple word research trying to understand the simple, but important difference between the words “honest” and “true” as adjectives.
The Definitions Of Honest And True; As Adjectives
First, the word honest, as given by Oxford.
Honest
adjective
- free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere.
Now the word true, also given by Oxford.
True
adjective
- in accordance with fact or reality.
Now I understand that there is going to be an overlap of similarities because of their relation to truth. But I did learn some key differences, that before I did not know or think about when using these words.
The Main Differences Between Being Honest And Being True As Related to Truth
From my pondering about these two wonderful attributes, I come to understand some interesting things that brought clarity to my mind. (From my perspective of course)
To Be Honest
Being honest is all about being transparent through things that are true. Whether they are actions, words, or feelings. If you are honest, people can take what you feel, say, and do as something valuable.
This creates validity to who you are as a person. Honesty is being able to use truths to be transparent so others can trust in them and know the circumstances of the world with clarity. Some truths we experience and some truth is brought to us and taught to us by others.
Simple example by what I mean.
If you went to a McDonald’s by yourself and someone called you asking “where are you?”. You could say “ I am at McDonald’s”. Now you being at Mcdonald’s is a truth that you alone are experiencing. Not the person that is calling you.
If you are an honest person and relay the fact that you are at Mcdonald’s, you are using truth for transparency so the person knows you are at Mcdonald’s. For them (knowing that you are an honest person), it creates clarity for them, knowing that what you have told them is something that they can take as truth.
Make Sense?
To Be True
Being True is all about alignment to reality. It seems more of a personal experience to be had with the truth. If I call someone true, it is like me saying that they are a pure source of true things. They are aligned with the facts of reality so much that they become loyal in using and defending it.
This seems like a tall order to live up to, but it is just my perspective and understanding of what it means to be true. Now as for clarifying the differences so to bring this idea full circle.
Clarify The Differences between Being Honest And Being True
To me, being honest says that you are a wielder of Truth. You use it, almost as one uses an object. Giving transparency to the world around you. Being true says you are a source of truth. You are spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally aligned with the real and true things of existence.
I believe someone who is true also means that they are honest. However, if someone is honest, that does not necessarily make them true. Again honesty is using yourself as a pathway for things that are true. Being true is being truth itself.
Conclusion
I hope my perspective and opinions helped give you all clarity. Obviously, we are not perfect. These are wonderful attributes that we may not embody perfectly.
However, I also hope each and every one of us does our best to reach these wonderful characteristics.
There may be things that we are true to and other things that we are not quite there yet. We may be honest in sincerely relaying what we think to be true, but may find out that the source of it was untrue.
Even if those things happen once in a while we should always do our best to be the best people we can be. It may be hard, but keep trying and never give up!