Integrity Sacrament Talk

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting and a few topics were given for me to choose from.  I decided to talk about honesty/integrity, because hey, double duty for personal progress right?  So I didn't actually write it out, but instead outlined it and gave myself notes to follow.  I'll try to make it a little more cohesive and readable on here, but it's going to basically be just a study-guide kind of notes thing I think.

Topic: I'm going to teach about the importance of Honesty and Integrity
Main Ideas:

1. What does it mean to be honest or have integrity?
2. Talk about being able to receive blessings because of honesty

1) Expansion on first point:

• in True to the Faith it defines honesty as "to be sincere, truthful, and without deceit at all times"
• integrity often requires sacrifice on our part, and it is for the better in the long run
• there are many examples of integrity in the scriptures: the two I used were in Alma 53:20 where it talks about the stripling warriors, and in Alma 48:11,17 where it talks about one of my personal scripture heroes, Captain Moroni.  (Love the description of him in verse 17.)  
• Elder Christoffel Golden Jr. of the 70 says that integrity "requires a person always to do or say the right thing mo matter the circumstances or what others may think."
• If we have integrity we always do what's right even when its hard - to me, this includes being a witness and living example of this gospel.
• Romans 1:16; Mosiah 18:9 - Don't be ashamed, and stand as a witness, even until death.  This is something that's really hard for me, personally.  I get reallllllly shy and I have a hard time speaking up, but I've found that in the times where I don't, of I brush it off, I feel more embarrassed about it later and upset with myself for not standing up for it, than I would in the times where I was strong in the moment and stood up for my beliefs.  It's scary, and it's hard, but it's worth it.  
• At work I've talked about on the blog experiences with customers being honest or figuring out scales or things like that, but even with normal purchases, most things are weighed, so the customers have no idea what the exact price is and it would be easy for any one of the employees to cheat someone just a small amount, and do it with each customer.  However, I've never seen anyone do it - every customer at the chocolate store treats the customer with honesty and if they don't think they'll be able to remember accurately the amount that they weighed, they write it down so that they don't cheat the customer.

2) Expansion on second point:

• We are blessed eventually, whenever we make a good choice, but there are some blessings that are specifically categorized with honesty and are very personal blessings.
• honesty establishes a relationship with God, because he knows that he can trust us.
• D&C 124:15 - Strengthens a loving relationship with our Father.
• we become "accepted of the Lord" - D&C 97:8
• when honest "we are blessed with a peace of mind an self-respect and will be entrusted by the Lord and others".
• when we act with constant integrity and truth we will be more fully equipped to serve God and our fellow man, and be intruments in God's hands.
• not following these principles of honesty and integrity restricts us in the ability to accomplish things in our lives - eventually being able to be trusted pays off far more than lying to get what we want in the moment.

Finally, I just want to add that I know how much of a blessing it is to be trusted and have an honest life - it's so much easier to not have to worry about deceit.  This was my simplified notes that I went off of, so when I gave the actual talk there was more embellishment and details as I spoke, and a few things that I felt like I should add that I just don't remember anymore, but I think that it's less important that I write those, than it is that whoever reads this thinks about it on your own.  Honesty makes life so much simpler, and believe me its so much nicer to be able to focus on the things that make you happy instead of getting caught up in the complexity that follows with being dishonest.  You'll feel better, and your life will be better.  So there you go, there's my integrity thought for the day. =)

Hannah.