February 24
Leviticus 9-10
Psalm 26:1-7
Proverbs 6:12-15
Mark 3:13-35
Dishonesty
“A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict.”
Proverbs 6:12-14 NIV
Dishonesty has become so commonplace in our culture that we almost expect it. Little white lies are no big deal and when we get caught, we just tell another one to cover it up. Unfortunately, we are all guilty of it. We ease our conscience by rationalizing that we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or that we aren’t really lying, we just aren’t telling the whole truth. I grew up in the Deep South so it was drilled into me very early that you are to always be nice and never say something that would hurt someone’s feelings. We like our tea sweet, and we like our words even sweeter. Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating rudeness. We all know people who say whatever comes into their mind without regard to how it might make others feel. My Mother used to always tell me that if I couldn’t say something nice, I shouldn’t say anything at all. Maybe better advice would be that if we can’t say something honest, we shouldn’t say anything at all. We are so used to not telling the whole truth that we often don’t even realize it. “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.” Proverbs 12:22 (NIV) “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 (NIV) “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor.” Ephesians 4:25 (NIV) Ask the Lord to reveal to you when you are not being honest and begin to speak the truth in love.
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