Telling the Truth
Bible Reading: Colossians 3:9-11
We were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.
Colossians 3:9-11 MSG....
Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
Lying can be habitual. We may even have lied to ourselves, pretending we don’t have a problem with lying. We may have learned to cover up our problems by becoming excellent liars. We can see the unhappiness caused by our lies, how they’ve hurt us and our loved ones. And lying is one of the defects we can give up with many promised benefits.
Think about these promises: “Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!” (Psalm 34:12-13). “Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Colossians 3:9-10). “Stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body” (Ephesians 4:25).
There are great benefits to truthfulness. What other virtue is accompanied by such promises? Honesty is vital to recovery. Since lying may be second nature to us, it may be difficult to change. Part of any successful recovery involves guarding our lips and our thoughts, to rid ourselves of the lies that hurt us and others. Since this may have been a lifelong way of coping, we must accept that learning to tell the truth is a gradual process.
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