... the text for June 16, 2020

Do not lie to one another. - Col. 3:9

This simple command is at the top of a slippery slope. Why is it hard? Imperfection, and everyone else does it. We need to do our best to not lie, why?

The comments clearly point it out:

Decitful people camnot keep anything secret from Jehovah, for "all things are naked and openly exposed to him." (Heb. 4:13)

Then a reference was made to Ananias and Sapphira. They attempted to make themselves look good and appear more generous than they really were. And that was their downfall, because Jehovah saw what they were doing and took action.

Was it wrong to keep money from the sale of the field? No. Had they been truthful and said, "We sold a field for this much, and we held back this much, the rest we give to Jehovah," that would have been very acceptable. But, they fudged the figures, they smeared the facts, to impress other humans.

Now, here's a more subtle example: We tell a story, and we omit a true fact from this story, that if we said it, it would make us look bad to those listening. Have you done that? Many of us have done this, including myself.

But, Jehovah knows the whole story already. The Bible is full of writers who were honest with themselves and their readers. Think about  Jonah. He admitted to being scared and running away. David wrote many psalms about embarrassing mistakes he had made. Paul wrote that he was an insolent man who persecuted Christians. That's one of many reasons the Bible can be trusted, is the honesty of the imperfect human writers used to write  it under inspiration.

I kind of feel sorry for those who are image conscious. They work hard to create an image and carefully maintain it by crafty lies and misleading actions to appear more spiritual, more popular, more wealthy, more attractive, more superior, more intelligent, or more of whatever they want to attain. A certain amount of personal stress and anxiety goes into maintaining this image. They put a mask on to hide their true feelings from others. Last week, a daily text stated, "People lie to protect themselves or promote themselves." Those who have an image to display, stay busy keeping up appearances.

Jehovah knows the whole story. Here's an interesting thing: Even though Jehovah knows every detail of our life, the good, bad and worst, He still wants a relationship with you. James 4:8 says that if we make the effort to draw close to God, he will draw close to us. That includes whatever horrible past you may have had, or a ongoing struggle you deal with now. Our God has an arrangement, the elders, to help us in telling the whole truth about ourselves. If there are no elders, are there psychologists? Psychiatrists? Therapists? Yes, it's okay to tell the whole story to those trained to help, by providing needed counsel, discipline and prayers to God on our behalf, like what job did for the three "friends".

If you want to seem generous, really be generous, not only when it's advantageous for you to appear generous. If you want to appear kind and loving, really be kind and loving, not when people are watching. If you want to appear forgiving, really be forgiving, not only when it benefits you or impresses others. Today's text shows how we can keep from lying to one another in this way. Continue to work hard at it. It isn't easy, but nothing really is easy.

Stay safe.