Honesty is Painful

    Honesty is a painful thing, it refuses to tell others what they want to
hear, and forces people to look at themselves differently.
    Tough love is a form of this honesty. If you truly love someone, you
will try and keep them from self-destructing. This is a foreign concept
in our modern society, we think that we should just leave everyone
alone to find their path in life, even if that path will kill them. I have
never understood how this could be looked at as love.
    As a former addict, I know that I lied to myself and those around me
about my addiction, and my having things under control. If there is one
thing an addict never has is control. The addiction is a hunger that just
takes over our lives.
    The easiest way to look at addictive behavior is watch a smoker. A
cigarette smoker will spend money on cigarettes, instead of buying food
or saving money. A smoker gets done with a cigarette, and can tell you
when they will need another one. Their life begins to be lived from
cigarette to cigarette. All addictions take over the addicts thoughts and
lives. It is a downward spiral into oblivion.
    Those that love an addict, can only help, if they can get an addict to
look at themselves honestly, and realize that their addiction is out of
their control. This honesty, this truthfulness, is hard on the addict and
the people that love them. Sometimes a professional intervention is
the only way. An intervention is a well planned confrontation with the
addict. If the addict doesn't agree to get help, the people that love the
addict have to agree to stay out of their lives until the addict gets help.
    In our society today, honesty is a lost art. We tend to shun conflict,
even if it means going against our Christian principles.
    How have we let this happen?
    All of us want to be liked by others. We compromise everything to
be liked. When we do this, honesty, God's Truth gets tossed out with
our conscience. We compromise so much that we no longer know the
difference between right and wrong. Everything becomes grey instead
of black and white.
    Honesty, truth, principles, can't be compromised.
    Honesty, truth, principles, have to be upheld, or society deteriorates.
    Strive daily to love others enough to be honest with them,  and
truthful with them. Hold on to your principles, they will keep you on
the straight and narrow.