Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness

I'm in a mood. Not a good one, either. Yes, the Lord is still in charge, and I am going to prayerfully conduct this post so as not to bring shame to Him or me.

At this point in my Walk, I feel like there is no more important quality for Christians to display than honesty. It is an intregal part of love. And right or wrong, the reality is that we are watching one another and listening and learning and yes...comparing ourselves to each other. The older women are exhorted to teach the younger. Same with the men. The members of the body are told to keep watch over eachother and confront sin. We are to work together.

We are commanded, "thou shalt not bear false witness." I'm no scholar...I'm not going to bring out the Greek and Hebrew...I'm not going to pick this one apart. I know what it says. It tells me to tell the truth. It tells me to be careful not to leave the wrong impression. I treat this command as one that calls me to be accountable for the perception others have of me. It might not sound reasonable to think I can control what someone else hears, but I can try.

How can we build up the Body or do anything for the Kingdom if any of us are allowing a happy, shiny, not-completely-true-and-we-know-it facade to be presented to our Brothers and Sisters? Do we consider the ramifications in another's life when we leave them to believe something that, in reality -- is too good to be true? Other people's perfection does not encourage me, but rather leaves me to want to dig a hole to crawl into when I "blow it." Give me a true account of another's humanness and sinfulness and then glorify God in my sight by sharing how He gave conviction, repentance, forgiveness and victory!

By God's grace, I will not make blanket statements that aren't absolutely always true. I will always temper the remarkable with the reality. I will protect my children's privacy to a point, but never to the degree that I unwittingly cause someone else to be discouraged by their inability to measure up. I will not pretend that my dear, wonderful Husband is above needing Jesus -- I won't share his stuff with anyone, but I'll never put him on a pedestal for the sake of reputation. I won't say he's the best man in the whole world (because Jesus already said that John the Baptist was), but I can honestly say he's my favorite man on the planet.

I won't knowingly lie. I won't exhort friends to do what I haven't seen -- for myself -- work in my life or the lives of others. I will not pretend that my fruit is sweet if it has actually fallen off the tree and is covered in mold and maggots. I won't speak in platitudes. I will not pretend that everything is good when what I really need is to repent.