Tag: honesty

What is a good relationship?

What does it take to have a good relationship? Whether it is marital, friendship, or family there are some qualities that exist in good relationships.

The first vital quality of a good relationship is honesty. Honesty gives security for any relationship it builds trust. Without honesty trust will be lacking. Without trust there will be no security in the relationship.

The second quality of good relationships is love. Love is a quality not based upon performance but on commitment to the relationship. Commitment is necessary for the relationship to thrive. Commitment is the adhesive in love for relationships.  The bible states in I Corinthians 13:4-8 “What is love it is patient, kind, it is not envious, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth it always protects, it always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

So, does a good relationship mean there is no disagreements? Absolutely not this means that you are willing to work through them. The third quality of a good relationship is forgiveness. Sometimes we say stuff wrongly or hurt the other person with out realizing it. You work through these situations by asking for forgiveness or giving forgiveness.

The fourth quality of a good relationship is significant communication. A good relationship extends beyond the trivial pleasantries and brings out the conversations of feelings, wants and needs. It is so important to the person to listen to their words and understand their meaning.  If you do not talk clearly what you are thinking, feeling and meaning the other individual will be left with their own interpretation of what you are saying. Never stop the discussion without understanding what the person meant.

The fifth quality of a good relationship is faithfulness. Faithfulness is demonstrated in honoring your word. Faithfulness to your word means you do what you said you would do. Faithfulness also means you are loyal. These are qualities that build trust and security in relationships.

All these qualities of honesty, love, commitment, trust, security, significant communication, forgiveness, and faithfulness develop good relationships. I would inspire you to find ways to grow your relationships with these qualities.

Integrity…

Character, integrity, reputation and your word.

Weeks ago, I was confronted with a choice do I willing tell a white lie to have my dog groomed early or else do I do the right thing.

I choose to not tell a lie and wait until his groomer shop opened.  To me all I understand is my integrity as well as the reputation is all you have. Honesty is the “quality of being honest and having strong moral principle, moral uprightness.” According to a dictionary “Integrity means following your moral or ethical convictions and doing the right thing in all circumstances, even if no one is watching you.” “Having integrity means you are true to yourself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonors you.”

You cannot bring your money alongside you after you die but once I am gone everything that people will remember is exactly how I treated individuals and my integrity.

Life is funny in this manner. You can amass a quantity of wealth which can be destroyed in the flicker of the eye, but your good name is purely based on you. What you are saying and do, the way you honor your word, how you are treating people. That is what remains left behind.

Character means: “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.”   My character consists of many things. What are you doing that makes you, you? Honesty, loyalty, persistence, perseverance and faithfulness these are favorable character traits that we can or may not have. Having a nice character is represented in actions and words.  I say actions first and foremost because any one can say everything, but good character follows through with actions.

Your word in the western movies was like money people trusted on somebody’s word.  We no longer go by an individual’s word when buying.  But that does not imply your word does not really matter.  So often individuals’ go depending on how they feel rather than honoring their word. When we will not honor what we are saying it harms confidence and the character.  The bible says, “honor your word even when it hurts.” This represents a faithfulness in action and integrity.

I would encourage each one of us reading this to become persons of integrity.