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