Tag: Lying

Man working on laptop at kitchen table late at night

Choosing Words Wisely

Leave a comment

“A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise. A fool’s displeasure is known at once, but whoever ignores an insult is sensible. Whoever speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit. There is one who speaks rashly, like a piercing sword; but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue, only a moment. Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy. No disaster overcomes the righteous, but the wicked are full of misery.” (Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭15‬-‭21‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Have you ever known someone who didn’t seem to have much of a filter? Whatever came to mind is what came out of their mouth. Sometimes those kinds of folks can be entertaining to be around—at least when you aren’t in their verbal crosshairs. But more often than not they’ll just make you cringe at best. Although there have been some cultural voices occasionally that have encouraged people to give voice to all of their thoughts and counseled that holding back isn’t good for us, but mostly they are wrong at the very least. Solomon would agree. This next batch of proverbs includes several that counsel bringing a bit more discretion to our words. Let’s dive in.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 20:16

1 Comment

“Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I told one big lie to my parents when I was growing up. I don’t mean this was the only lie I told, I’m sure there were many more of those, but this was the big one. They had told me not to throw dirt clods from our freshly tilled garden bed at the shed sitting at the end of the garden because they didn’t want me to accidentally hit and break the window that faced that direction. The trouble was, I was an eight- or nine-year-old boy, and those dirt clods exploded so satisfyingly when they hit the wall. So, I threw them anyway…and I broke the window. But on that particular day, my cousin was there throwing with me. I told my parents he broke the window. Year…I paid for that, and rightly so. Here’s my question: Did I violate this commandment then? Let’s talk about this penultimate of the Ten Commandments and just what it means.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 1:17-21

5 Comments

“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this and let the boys live?’ The midwives said to Pharaoh, ‘The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.’ So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Everyone “knows” lying is wrong. I say it like that because in spite of that so-called knowledge, we still do it. A lot. For followers of Jesus, we know we serve the God of truth. Committing ourselves to something other than what is true, whether in word, deed, or even thought, is out of sync with His character and thus out of bounds for us morally. People generally who countenance any kind of authority to the Scriptures will quickly point to the Ten Commandments’ prohibition on bearing false witness as further proof of the sinfulness of lying. What do we do then, with a story in which some characters actively lie about something and are celebrated and rewarded for it? Let’s explore this together.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Luke 16:8

1 Comment

“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Jesus said some strange things during His ministry. There are whole books dedicated to examining this or that hard saying. LifeWay’s Bible Studies for Life Sunday school material has been looking at different hard sayings of Jesus for the last few weeks. I’ve preached at least two sermon series on the subject. Of all the weird and hard things Jesus said that the Gospel authors recorded for us, this parable ranks right near or even at the top of the list. Let’s talk about why and what we are to do with it. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 21:2

Leave a comment

“David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

David flat-out lies to Ahimelech here. What’s more, when he finally leaves Israel, he goes to the Philistines for refugee—the very people he had spent the last several years decimating in battle. Things aren’t looking good for our hero. Read the rest…