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Verse:The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies. — Zephaniah 3:13, KJV
One day one of my husband’s younger employees informed him , “ My grandmother died , and I need to leave work early today to attend her funeral . ” * My husband readily gave this young man permission to be off work for the afternoon . Several days later , however , my husband was surprised when he met the young man’s grandmother in a local store where he shared with her the news of her “ funeral , ” which was to have taken place a few days earlier ! It does not take long to know if someone is honest or not , for time has a way of revealing the truth .
Dishonesty has many faces . I was once in a conversation with a man who was trying to convince me of something that I knew was false . When finally aware that his tactic was not working , he admitted that he was trying to manipulate me . I suppose he thought I would at least be impressed with his verbal skills . I quietly told him I was well aware of what he was trying to do. No matter what wrapping we place around a lie, it is still unacceptable and remains a lie . Sophistication or cunning cannot whitewash a lie.
Then there is the visitor who finds you down in the garden dirt, digging and weeding. Standing before you in their finest, they ask , “ May I help you with what you are doing ? ” Time reveals this individual does not get his or her hands in the dirt, if possible. The pretense is to give the impression of what one is not ! Or what about the teenager who reports to his parents that he “went to church” ? In reality, he did intentionally step into the foyer but promptly left the church, taking a joyride with a friend . This is just another example of “telling the truth ” with the intent to deceive — the most dangerous of all lies!
Pure, absolute truth cannot be stretched , embellished , sensationalized , or colored . God’s true followers must be transparent, straightforward, and honest in all things. The apostle Paul counsels, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him ” ( Colossians 3:10, NLT ) .
Dottie Barnett