Wednesday; March 5

Last Sunday I did a sermon on proper speech and came across something I’d never thought of before.  A portion of the lesson dealt with telling the truth.  As I was doing some research, I noticed an interesting passage that discussed a problem with lying.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ …” (Ephesians 4:14-15).  I have done a lot of lessons based on the principle of speaking the truth in love, but it was an earlier part of the passage that got my attention.  Have you ever thought about why people lie?  One reason is to manipulate others to do what they want them to do.  They can’t convince them with the truth, so they lie in an effort to get their way.  Lying isn’t just deceptive, it is also controlling.  It is natural to try to convince people to do something our way or get them to think our way, but it is inappropriate to sink to lying to get our way.

For people to make good decisions, they need to know the truth.  When we lie, we might get them to do things our way, but that may not be in their best interest.  Let’s speak the truth and display the genuine love we should have for them.

Think About It!

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