Honesty is the best policy

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not abide in the truth, because there is no truth in him. He speaks out of himself; for he is a liar, He is also the father of lies” (John 8:44).

"Thou shalt not take a bribe; for a bribe can blind the sighted, and confound the words of the righteous." (Exodus 23:8)

"Honesty is the Best Policy." originated very early in the West. Benjamin Franklin, the founding father of the United States, wrote "Poor Richard's Almanack" in 1777 and 1779. This wise warning was published twice. Later, this famous saying became a universal value and became the concept of the Protestant Reformed ethics scholar Max Weber, and then became one of the cornerstones of Reformed ethics and the development of modern capitalism.

In today's world, "Honesty" is often emphasized with "Integrity"; in fact, honesty and integrity are also the principles of conduct that the Bible has always emphasized. In my past experience in the management of businesses, churches, and gospel organizations, I deeply understand that "honesty is the best policy" is the life fruit of faith. For those who have not found true faith and know the true God, this is The words are just reduced to slogans and cannot be done or accomplished at all, because Adam, the founder of mankind, was deceived by Satan (the father of lies) and sinned. Therefore, we are born with original sin unless we rely on the redemption of Jesus Christ. , we cannot live "honestly".

Some people think it is difficult to be honest, and even think that insisting on honesty will suffer great losses; in fact, honesty is a Christian’s willingness to give up worldly principles, treat others and things with God’s values, and put God’s will (biblical principles) into practice. ) as our life goals, and God will bless us according to His promises. Therefore, if we can adhere to the principle of "honesty" in dealing with others, it will bring great blessings to ourselves, our families, our country and the world; I am willing to share my personal example with you-

Case 1
About thirty years ago, when I took over as the general manager of a certain company, I discovered that our company’s business staff regularly sent bribes (red envelopes) to several customers every month for incoming inspection (IQC), parts approval and inspection. Procurement department and other supervisors. I immediately asked the business manager to find out and asked not to do it again. As a result, all the business staff and managers told me that if I did not continue to send red envelopes, the company's turnover might drop significantly.

At that time, I firmly stated that because of my beliefs, I could not continue to do this kind of thing that was harmful to others and myself. If there was a problem with the product, if we did not investigate and solve it in time, and use the method of sending red envelopes, it might lead to bigger problems in the future, the most serious , may lead to the company's bankruptcy.

I believed that we should solve the problem and actively improve the company's health at the same time, so I promoted Management by Objective and the company-wide quality control system (TQC) at that time, and actively planned and promoted the plan to become a world-class company. The results were in my After completing his second term as general manager, the turnover did not decrease, but quadrupled, and it gradually became a multinational enterprise.

Case 2
Also more than 30 years ago, our company purchased some raw materials from a Japanese trading company and got to know the business manager of this company. We believed that his character and abilities were in line with our company's corporate culture. So when we later learned that this trading company was required to close down by the Japanese government due to political reasons, we immediately invited him to jointly establish a company in Japan and he would be responsible for running it.

Later he told us that almost all the purchasing managers of his past company’s dozens of customers in Taiwan asked for bribes, and most of them asked him to remit the bribes directly to his personal account in a Hong Kong bank. Only Mr. Li from Kaohsiung and I, do not accept gifts and have never asked for a bribe, and both of us are Christians.

Our joint venture company was of great help to our company, and because of its good management, the joint venture company was later listed in Japan. This Japanese friend was later baptized and became a Christian. From this case, we can see that "honesty" can allow us to make "beneficial friends" for life.

Case 3
As we all know, the United States is a country founded by many Puritans who insisted on following biblical principles. We have seen how God blessed the United States to become a world power in the past and used the United States to bless the world; but since the United States has banned the teaching of the Bible and prayer in schools, at the same time Christianity Some denominations allow so-called liberal theology to interpret the Bible as they wish and not regard sin as sin. In addition, fifty years ago, the "Hippie" trend started at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), which emphasized pan- Freedom, sexual liberation, legalization of homosexuality, drug liberation and other unbiblical behaviors. Because of this unwillingness to faithfully follow the honest principles of the Bible to face God and man, those so-called mainstream denominations that "do not consider sin as sin" in the past have collapsed, and the United States The country's power has plummeted, almost becoming the world's largest debtor country. From the above examples, we can clearly see that "honesty" is a blessing given to us by God, because "honesty" can make us "unified on the outside" and "honesty" can make us say the same thing to everyone and become "pure in heart". man" because the Bible says:"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)Therefore, insisting on "honesty" can make us personally blessed, and then the blessings can be expanded, blessing the family, the church and the country.

Author profile

Lin Yuansheng, a church elder and one of the founders of Lite-on Group, served as general manager and group vice chairman. After retiring from the corporate world, he devoted himself to helping churches and Christian institutions improve their management capabilities and system reform. Served as the chairman of the Taiwan Christian Mustard Seed Association; experienced the Holy Spirit and spiritual renewal at the age of fifty, and is now committed to helping promote the ministry of spiritual renewal.