Recently, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a video contest, and the following video about honesty was one of the winners. The situations portrayed relate to students and the principle of not cheating, but the principle of honesty is something that applies to every facet of our lives.

President James E Faust speaks on honesty in Mormon Messages video

President James E. Faust (1920-2007) is the speaker in the background of the video on honesty. (Read the text of his talk, Honesty — A Moral Compass“.) He reminds us that

We all need to know what it means to be honest. Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving. … Honesty is a moral compass to guide us in our lives….

Honesty is a principle, and we have our moral agency to determine how we will apply this principle. We have the agency to make choices, but ultimately we will be accountable for each choice we make. We may deceive others, but there is One we will never deceive. From the Book of Mormon we learn, “The keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name” (2 Ne. 9:41).