Lies All the Same – The Ninth Commandment

Lies All the Same

Exodus 20:16

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

“White lies” are still lies. Holding back the truth is just a form of deceit. Skirting the truth is an attempt to make truth into something else, either to palliate someone’s sensitivities or to protect our own miscreant behavior.

But we have all been guilty of these at one time or another. Indeed, we can become so used to compromising the truth that we will lie, deceive, and mislead and not think a thing of it, as long as it keeps the peace or preserves us in the appearance of innocence.

Ask yourself this: What if everyone you know practiced truth toward you in the same way you practice it toward them. Would that further the cause of God’s truth and, thus, the manifestation of His glory? Would it be the best thing for you? What you would want from those you trust and love?

What opportunities for misrepresenting the truth to your neighbor will you have today? How will you remain mindful of God’s call for you to be a truthful person? How will you resist the temptation of bend the truth?

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.