Live the Truth
The Weekly Walk by Dr. James MacDonald
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth
with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.Be angry and do not
sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity
to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor,
doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to
share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,
but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it
may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 24 - 29
In a society built upon lying, it’s easy to rationalize and reduce
our responsibility for not living the truth. Lying is not just speaking
the wrong, lying is also presenting a false view of ourselves. It’s
all deception and it’s in all of us. We all lie and if you think
that you don’t, you just did.
All of us fight a constant battle between truth and error inside our
heads. We pretend to be different than we are, we lie about ourselves,
our circumstances, and our spirituality. We lie by what we say, by what
we don’t say, gray areas, angles, and imprecision in our speech.
This lying bent is a characteristic of our old nature and incredibly hard
to shake.
We lie to acquire. Sometimes we lie to get something we want--money on
tax returns, a job, a promotion, a relationship. We fear if we tell the
truth, we’ll go without.
We lie to enhance. I want people to think I’m smarter or better
than I am. Nobody would love me if they knew what I was really like.
We lie to protect ourselves or to avoid something that we don’t
want to happen. I don’t want to pay that fine . . . or lose that
chance, or deal with that problem.
The follower of Christ is called to higher living--an authentic, truthful,
trustworthy standard.
There is no clearer way to say it: stop lying and live the truth. Ephesians
4:25 says, “Therefore, having put away falsehood let each one of
you speak the truth.”
Aren’t you glad to know that true spirituality isn’t like
duct tape? I’ll just stop talking--if my lips are sealed then I
won’t lie. But God doesn’t want us to stop speaking or relating,
He wants truth to come out of our hearts and mouths instead. He wants
us to be open and transparent, building healthy relationships and living
out the Word of God. Truth is the very best thing we have and as Jesus
said, it’s what sets you free.
Dr. James McDonald
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