Ephesians 4:25ESV Our Morality–Speak the Truth
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (ESV).
This is part one of a five part series about the Christian Lifestyle. Dr. David Jeremiah wrote a book called, Belief that Behaves, and this series was inspired by chapter 11, A New Lifestyle.” The five parts of the series are entitled, Our Morality, Our Moods, Our Money, Our Mouths, and Our Manners.
Speaking the truth seems to be a small part of our morality, but I think lying is the first easy step on the road to immorality. It’s easy to lie, and sometimes it appears to get us out of a tight spot. “No officer, I was not going over the speed limit.” Or, “But I was going only a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit.” And that’s when it costs you, sometimes–sometimes we can talk our way out of the ticket even though we did lie. “Hey, that lie didn’t hurt me, it actually helped.” Maybe the lie did get the person out of a speeding ticket, but that is not the measure we are to use if we profess to be Christian. We are to “put away falsehood.”
I don’t want to say that lying is an epidemic today, but I just watched a number of political ads on tv, and I can’t in all conscience claim that lying is not epidemic. Back-to-back political ads claimed that the opponent was lying. My guess would be that they were both lying about something. “No, they were stretching the truth.” The truth is not a thing that can be stretched. It is solid, and any attempt to stretch it, breaks it, and a lie results. Some would say that that is a pretty narrow view. Well, yes, it is. The truth is truth, and a lie is a lie. Nothing is ever almost true.
Why is truth the basic point used to describe our morality? Even when a lie is not the beginning of immorality, a lie is often used to cover up the immoral act. How many husbands, and how may wives have said, “No, I am not being unfaithful to you?” I know that some of them have told the truth, but I also know that some of them have been lying. Where does lying come from? John 8:44, in Jesus’ own words, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (ESV). If satan is the father of lies, then all lies must come from him, been fathered by him, and certainly are not in the will of God.
It takes great strength of character not to lie, and God realizes that we are not perfect, and we do lie. And, by repentance and Jesus’s sacrifice, we are cleansed from the lie. Because of our love for God, we do try not to lie, to live moral lives.
Return tomorrow for part two, Our Moods.