Learning To Tell The Truth

Scripture

So stop telling lies.

~Ephesians 4:25, NLT

Quote

Without exception, all lies hurt someone.

~William F. Graham

It does not talk long for a small child to learn to tell a lie. It is our default setting. By lying, we evade responsibility and sometimes punishment. As we get older, we learn how to lie more convincingly. Little children can lie but teenagers are much more convincing. Along with learning to lie, we learn to act or to pretend. It is all a defense mechanism and the more insecure we are, the more we lie. Deeply insecure people find it very difficult to tell the truth or to live it. This is caused by their fear. They see lies as a way of protecting themselves from being hurt. The bottom line is that all of us have told lies and if we are honest, we are learning to tell the truth. We have not mastered truth telling but we are learning. Dr. Graham says that all lies hurt someone. The entire human race has been hurt dramatically by Satan’s lie to Eve. Lies hurt, they can even kill.

Parents may find it amusing when a little child tells a whopper but it is not amusing for teenagers to lie and they will. I’ve heard more than one parent boast that their child would never lie. I don’t argue with them but I chuckle on the inside and I think to myself, “That’s what you think.” I learn to exaggerate early on. I could embellish with the best of them and it became such a habit that no one believed anything I said. I repented has a middle teenager and I have been learning to tell the truth since but I am no where close to perfect honesty. I not only want to tell the truth, I also want to live it. I read a definition of sophistication the other day. Sophistication is when a nobody pretends to be somebody. It is hard to live with a lie; the truth is a much better friend.

One other thing: there is no virtue in being brutally honest. If there was, I would be the most virtuous man in the whole county. Some one said to me last night {less than 24 hours ago}, “I’m going to ask you a question and I know you will tell me the truth.” She asks and I gave her my opinion. Several years ago, a young man called me about bedtime and asks me what I thought about him marrying a certain woman. I told him it would be a mistake and one that he would regret. He wasn’t happy with my answer. Curious aren’t you: yes, he went ahead and married her but it did not last long. Looking back, I don’t know who suffered the most regret: it may have been her. Practice telling the truth in love today.

Extra

We had a heavy frost last night and believe it or not, we are pretty dry at 11:20. We could use a season of rain. My rye grass and turnips are not growing. Don’t forget to pray for our friends battling cancer and the REVIVAL SERVICE Sunday night at Mount Zion, a growing fellowship and among the top ten givers to the Morgan Baptist Association. Dr. Spencer T. Bell is their pastor. Let’s pack the place this Sunday night. Teddy Turrentine and Rex Looney will be leading us. You don’t want to miss this service.

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