What Do Your Words Say?

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Exodus 20:16

Note: I'm losing my mind here in Muncie! Totally forgot to post yesterday - forgive me! I'll get this right eventually!

This is yet another of God's commandments that we as Christians could be tempted to easily check off our list.  We have learned this commandments as "do not lie" and we don't lie, right?  You ask me how old I am, I'll choke out the real number.  (You didn't ask, so I'm not telling!)  However, I believe that we are called to dig a bit deeper in our understanding of what God wants us to do.


Remember, we keep saying that everything that involves the Ten Commandments is about love.  They are driven by God's love for us, motivating our love for God in return, and inspiring our love for others.  So let's look closely here.  The word "testimony" means "evidence in support of a fact or statement."  Do you think that's a little different than lying?

What about when you repeat a rumor that you do not know to be true?  Anything, any words that you say, you are offering into evidence.  I mean ANYTHING!!  "This food is cold."  "It's sunny out today."  "I don't feel well."  You are stating those words as fact. 

The same thing is true when you say, "Did you hear that Jack and Jill are getting a divorce?"  You are offering those words as a fact, whether you know it for a fact or not.  Even prefacing your statements with, "Now, I'm not sure if this is true or not, but did you know . . .?" Hedging your bets on the truth does not make your statement right.

Any kind of gossip is wrong.  If you don't know something as a FACT, you are offering into your life's testimony a false witness.  I would even go so far as to say that there are words that do NOT need to be said, factual or not. 

Have you been hurt by gossip, true or untrue?  And yet, we have to admit we've all done it.  In fact, our society today is driven by gossip!  I get so frustrated with so-called legitimate news sources who offer gossip as factual news, or who use their air time to perpetuate rumor instead of truth.  Lives are ruined by rumor and innuendo.  Jesus said, "Simply let your yes be yes, and your no be no.  Anything beyond this comes from the evil one."  (Matthew 5:37)  Read the Message version of Matthew 5:36-38:  "And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong."  WOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

In other words . . . "I'm only telling you this so you can pray about it . . ."   How many times have we done that?  JUST as wrong as out and out lying about someone.  Let your yes be yes.  If I say to you, "Do you know anything about Stephen?" and you do, say yes.  Then if I say, "Will you tell me about it?" say, no.  You don't need to embellish and explain.  Yes means yes and no means no.  Too many words get us in trouble!  Proverbs 10:18-20 says, "He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.  When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.  The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value."


I know that I am a talker (some of you are shocked, I know).  This verse makes me want to speak a little less.  I want to be wise, and hold my tongue, not just regarding gossip or lies, but also with advice that I am just sure someone needs to hear, or words I think need spoken. Sometimes silence is golden. 

This is an area in my life that I am pledging to work on, and I am thankful that God has brought this to my attention today.  Thanks for digging a little deeper with me today.  Will you trust God with your words?  Or perhaps the question should be, Can God trust you?

Keep Blazing!