Daily Encouragement -- Truth Teller

Recently, a friend of mine was sharing how she had endured some stress and anxiety over what we might call a lie of "omission" -- meaning she allowed someone to believe a lie by simply not explaining the situation she was in. The stress and the anxiety came when she had to perpetuate the lie by pretending, sneaking, and careful maneuvering, but she was afraid feelings would get hurt if she came out and told the truth.

So what do you think? What would you do in a similar situation in order to spare the feelings of someone you really care about?

Let's take a look at a few verses to see what the Bible has to say:

"Do not steal. Do not cheat one another. Do not lie." (Leviticus 19:11)

"And then you will no longer need to be ashamed of yourselves, for you will no longer be rebels against me. I will remove all the proud and arrogant people from among you. There will be no pride on my holy mountain. Those who are left will be the lowly and the humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD. The people of Israel who survive will do no wrong to each other, never telling lies or deceiving one another." (Zephaniah 3:11-13a)

"You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness--righteous, holy and true. So put away all falsehood and 'tell your neighbor the truth' because we belong to each other." (Ephesians 4:24-25)

"Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church." (Ephesians 4:14-15)

It may seem like the "little white lie" would be a good way to keep from hurting someone we love, but we are in essence rebelling against God and showing Him that we do not trust Him enough to take care of us or the other person if we speak the truth -- in love.

Today, sister, be aware of what you say (or omit) and make every effort to be a truth teller--in this you will honor the LORD and the people you come in contact with.