A CALL TO DIE BOOK - Day 27

DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
“And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair
white or black. Simply let your `Yes’ be `Yes,’and your ‘No’be ‘No’;
anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matt 5:36-37)
In Jesus’ day, people used oaths to show how serious they were about
telling the truth. One would swear by the temple, and the next would
one-up him by swearing by the altar in the temple. Each person tried
to outdo the other in promising truthfulness. We do the same thing
today. A guy says something, and a girl says, “Do you promise?” The
girls isn’t convinced and asks, “Do you really promise?” If the guy
doesn’t come back with, “I really promise!”, she thinks he’s lying.
Jesus recognized our desire to force people to tell the truth by
demanding oaths-and our desire to use oaths ourselves to prove our
truthfulness-but he says there’s a better way. A simple way. Just tell the
truth. Period. Let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No.” It’s
simply integrity. Don’t split hairs and try to trick people by using word
games. Simply tell the truth plainly and clearly. Let the truth of Christ be
your integrity. Let the chips fall where they may.
People lie to cover their sins. We weave elaborate stories to hide what
we’ve done. In fact, most of the novels we read and movies we see
focus on hiding truth. It is the uncovering ‘ of the truth that forms the
plot and the drama of the stories. On a personal level, we often lie to
each other because we are ashamed of our behavior and we want
to avoid the consequences. Jesus spoke about this tendency in his
conversation with Nicodemus. He said, “This is the verdict: Light has
come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because
their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the ‘ light, and will
not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John
3:19-20). Exposure ... that’s what we try so desperately to avoid. We
hope a lie will end the matter, but it rarely does. Instead, we have to
lie again to cover the fi rst one, and then another one and another.
Soon, we are tangled in the web of deceit. Or, it would be too
embarrassing to explain why we lied in the fi rst place. So we leave it
there.
Every lie drives a wedge in our relationship with others. We may get
away with some of them in our earthly relationships, but to God we
are completely transparent in our thoughts, motives, and actions.
The writer to the Hebrews stated, “Nothing in all creation is hidden
from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Heb 4:13). Who will
give an account? All of us. Eventually, we all will stand before God
in judgment. We will be asked about every word and every action. ..
every lie and every truth we’ve said. We may think we are escaping
the consequences of our sins by lying, but even if we aren’t caught by
our friends, our parents, our teachers, or our employers, God sees it.
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DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
Or should I say, sees through it. Realize that God is not a “peeping
Tom” ready to pounce on us for every sin. He loves us and no matter
what lie we tell, his love for us doesn’t vanish. However, in his holiness,
God cannot be nonchalant about even the “smallest” sin.
We as people sometimes engage in a form of deception that we
don’t think of as lying, but it is. It’s exaggeration. We make good things
a little better, and we make bad things a little worse. Why? To impress
people a little more. We laugh about this and call it “evangelastic,”
but when we make a statement that isn’t true, it’s sin. Often
people ask me, “David, how many people were at that revival last
weekend?” I might want to stretch the truth and say there were 400
when only 350 were there. Why? Because 400 sounds better than 350.
It’s that simple.
Why do we exaggerate? Maybe because we are insecure. We are
afraid that person won’t think as highly of us if we tell the truth. We
want to be accepted. We want to impress. We want them to think
we’re hot stuff. So we stretch the truth just a little-to get that smile
and that pat on the back. When we have the urge to exaggerate,
we need to look at our hearts and ask, “What’s going on here? Am
I secure in the love and strength of Jesus, or do I think I need to lie to
get this guy’s approval?” Act with integrity and honesty. Tell the truth.
As we walk in the light, we can be honest about our own sin, about
our circumstances, and about God. We lose the opportunity to
honor God as long as we try to rationalize or hide our sin. When his
light shines on our misbehavior, we need to say, “Yes, Lord. I did that.
Thank you for forgiving me.” As we walk with God and observe our
circumstances, we can be honest about the hurts and the joys. If
we are truthful with God about them, he can soothe the hurts and
magnify the joys, and we can be honest about the character of God.
I love the Psalms. In those pages, we see David, Asaph, and the
other writers pouring out their hearts to God. Sometimes they are
disappointed with God; sometimes they are angry. But in virtually
every case, their honesty leads to fresh insights about the wisdom and
love of God. It takes a lot of courage to be honest with God, but the
results are wonderfully liberating.
Paul commanded the believers in Ephesus: “Therefore each of you
must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are
all members of one body” (Eph 4:25). One of the reasons to be honest
with each other is that we are connected to each other. Christians are
the body of Christ. Imagine the problems we’d have if our body didn’t
communicate truth to other parts of the body! If your brain told your
legs, “Hey, watch out! A train is coming!” when you’re sitting in class or
at work, people would surely misunderstand if you dove into the hall!
But that’s a picture of what happens in the body of Christ.
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DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
We, often intentionally, tell each other lies, and then we make
misinformed decisions based on what others tell us. When we find out
someone has lied to us, we are devastated and often have somewhat
of a mess to fix. Trust is violated, and we have a hard time trusting
next time. Instead of speaking the truth-and sometimes the truth is
hard-we lie, we hide, we exaggerate, and we erode the relationships
with fellow believers that should be some of the strongest, most
transparent and honest relationships in our lives. Telling lies can also
severely damage our witness. Non-believers may distrust Christ if they
have been lied to by Christians-the very ones who call themselves his
ambassadors. ` If we claim to represent Christ, we must be careful to
always `S’ speak the truth. Remember, if we call ourselves Christians,
we ; are to be the very example of the one who is “the way, the truth,
and the life” (John 14:6).
Speak the truth about yourself, about others, and about God as if you
are in the presence of Christ-because you are. The truth may be hard
at first, but walking in the light will result in forgiveness and strength
instead of always looking over your shoulder to see if you are going to
get caught.
Does this mean we should go out of our way to be disrespectful or
impolite and excusing it as “just telling it like it is”? No, God gives us
wisdom. Paul wrote, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according
to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph 4:29). So ...
don’t tell somebody, “You sure are annoying!” even if it’s true! Be wise.
Speak truth in love.
-Be still. Listen to what God is saying to you.
1. What are some consequences when people are caught lying?
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DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
2. What are some consequences they experience even when they
seem to get away with lying?
3. Why do “men love darkness rather than light”?
4. Read the Hebrews 4:13 passage again. Does it comfort you or scare
you? Explain:
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DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
5. Are there any recurring situations in which you tend to exaggerate?
If so, identify them:
Look at your heart. What do you hope exaggerating will do for you?
What does it actually do for you?
6. How does lying and exaggerating affect your Christian
relationships? What can you do about the problem?
7. How does it shape your words to realize that every word you speak
is spoken in the presence of Christ?
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DAY 27: SPEAK THE TRUTH
8. Read Matthew 5:33-37. Think about each verse, then use it as a
guide as you pray.
Memorize: Say Psalm 86:11-12 aloud. How can you apply this passage
today?
Lord, today you are calling me to die to selfish desires by:
You are calling me to obey in these areas:
you are calling me to intimacy with you by:
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