Monday, August 15, 2016

Truthfulness



Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.”

I read a story about a little boy who was once asked in his church Sunday school class to define the noun “lie”. In response, the boy said, “A lie is an abomination to the Lord and a very present help in time of trouble.” We may laugh at this child’s perspective, and yet doesn’t it hit a little close to home? Do we find ourselves justifying a lie (little or big) here or there? I do not know anyone who hasn’t, but we need to avoid compromising the truth.

The old 1828, Webster’s Dictionary defines “truth” as: Veracity; purity from falsehood; practice of speaking truth; habitual disposition to speak truth. Fidelity; constancy. Honesty; virtue. To be truthfulness is a life full of truth and doing truth. To do truth, is to practice what God commands. 


Proverbs 12:19 “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”

We need to celebrate truthfulness in our lives for several reasons. Charles Hodges states that truthfulness is the very substratum of deity. By that definition, a being who would lie couldn’t be God. Truthfulness is the very essence of God’s character. One thing that God cannot do is lie. If God lied , we could have no confidence in Him whatsoever. Secondly, truthfulness is essential to God’s purpose for humankind. We can never reach God’s full potential for us if we lie. The Scriptures tell us that our goal is to mature and grow into the likeness of our Father God and Lord Jesus Christ; that is sanctification. Therefore, we must become like Him who cannot lie under any circumstance. Who is the father of lies? Jesus said in John 8:44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”


Matthew 5:37 “ But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

Third, lying destroys the fabric of society. Society harmony depends on a certain amount of trust based on truthfulness. How can there be any trust among us when we justify telling lies? Can we truthfully say that honesty and integrity are qualities in our lives? We need to remember that we will all stand before God and be held accountable for every idle word. Let’s pray that our truthfulness as Christians (Followers of Jesus Christ), children of Almighty God, and witnesses of the gospel will shine like a lighthouse beacon on a hilltop in a world steeped in darkness and lies.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 


In Christ, Brian

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