Speaking the truth

Speaking the truth

I have been challenged by something this week, and I would appreciate some advise.

I firmly believe that when the Holy Spirit reveals something then it is for a reason.

Lets say a christian lies to you, the world would call it a small white lie, fairly harmless and done so it does not bring resentment or judgement. Done with good intentions.

This happened to me recently, when somebody I know told me a white lie because they did not want to let me down. The Holy Spirit immediately told me that they where not telling me the truth.

Do I accept their excuse or do I reveal to them that I know that they are trying to decieve me? I believe the Holy Spirit told me this, not for my benefit, but for theirs.

Please do not bombard me with, things like "a lie is a lie", "satan is the father of lies". I already know this. I am talking about everyday little lies that we all have come across.

Here is an example. Two christians are talking to one another. Lies are highlighted in red.

John "How are you today?"
Peter "Fine and you?"
John "never been better, where where you yesterday, we missed you?"
Peter "I was stuck in traffic"
John "sorry to hear that, it was a great service........."

Seemingly harmless lie, do we expose it or do we keep quite about it?
 
My thoughts-


Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Will not this same Holy Spirit who gave you revealtion lead your actions/reactions?:)



Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

If we leave the love out is it His truth at all?

And finally
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Pro 3:21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

Isa 28:26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

Unless God is directly leading you to expose this what would be gained by it? Would that one be driven closer to Christ or simply away from you in embaresment?

Pro 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

Perhaps it is God who needs to deal with this and this person is in need of much prayer. But again- just my thoughts my friend.
 
Brother, I understand your question and am faced with this situation regularly. Being in music ministry provides an interesting view of christendom with my interactions with others in a personal way. They come from all walks of life, culture and maturity in the Word of God and power in the Holy Spirit. Discernment is the word I heard in my spirit before our Bro Larry found a scripture regarding it.

I first ask myself; WHY are they lying to me...Jesus knew that the Pharisees were trying to trick him or being deceitful intentionally and was as "wise as a serpent and meek as a dove" in His response.Did Jesus perceive Peter's "I will die for you Lord" as a lie...no, he saw it through Grace. He saw Peter's love for him to WANT to not betray him; Peter did not have it within his understanding to accept his failure but because of Grace, Jesus said "I have prayed for you"...

It may be an "unspiritual" reason like pride or fear of rejection. It may be a "coverup" for their sins also. If the lie is a spiritually "hurting" the one who says it may be an opportunity for some correction or instruction in righteousness. If the Lord is revealing the lie to their hurt, you would not be loving them in Him by witholding that information...just do it with grace and love.

:groupray:
 
Thanks for the advise.

I think the reason this person lied to me was because he did not have the heart to tell me the truth because he thinks it may hurt me, which it does not.

I will pray over this, because I do not want to be self righteous and expose his lie just for the sake of exposing it, I am in no way perfect and I have considerable respect for this man.

What was amazing, as soon as he spoke to me the Holy Spirit told me that he was lying. Maybe this is more important than I originally thought!
 
Disengenous answers to disengenous questions??? Is that a lie?
Should we when ask" how we are doing today" just give a thoughtless "OK "or "fine" Or should we break down our day by event or our life by the calender for the one who ask????
Communcations psycology and sociology tells us that this disengenous idle chatter is important. courticy, respect an indication of acckewledgment of ones importance makes commnications go easier. that the porpose is not to get an answer but to facilitate the conversation, get someones attention or establish the communication protical. Clerks tellers police officers ,people in public positions are taught to make a connection, to become social before the transaction especialy if it has the potential to be unpleasent.
The human aspect is very important to us all. A disengenous question and answer with a real live person is far more pleasent than the computer generated voice at the ATM saying "Welcome", or a vending machine that spouts out;" hello" when you pass by.

It can be a matter of safety in crisis or violant situations. In a potentially dangerous situation getting to know a name ,making a connection can literaly make the differance between life and death.

When we speak we say so much more than just words.
The tone, volume, manner, facial expressions, eye contact, and body language feeds all kinds of information to the one we are talking to. Your mood , intentions, sincerity, personality can all be reveiled with a simple responce to the question;"How are you doing"
But what about the freind, brother, co worker famly member that lies or witholds truth???
Motivation is more important that the fact that they lied.
The truth in love is sometimes best left unspoken.
Kevin,
Discern the intent and if it was for you ,however transparent or misguided know they did it out of love. and if you feel you must speak of it do so only to them and only in private.

Nothing come to us form our LORD without purpose. Take in all that God has given you from this experience. Ponder it, hold it in your heart ,for someday you will need it,or the LORD would not have brought it to your attention.
Reverantly
His
Cliff
 
I have been challenged by something this week, and I would appreciate some advise.

I firmly believe that when the Holy Spirit reveals something then it is for a reason.

Lets say a christian lies to you, the world would call it a small white lie, fairly harmless and done so it does not bring resentment or judgement. Done with good intentions.

This happened to me recently, when somebody I know told me a white lie because they did not want to let me down. The Holy Spirit immediately told me that they where not telling me the truth.

Do I accept their excuse or do I reveal to them that I know that they are trying to decieve me? I believe the Holy Spirit told me this, not for my benefit, but for theirs.

Please do not bombard me with, things like "a lie is a lie", "satan is the father of lies". I already know this. I am talking about everyday little lies that we all have come across.

Here is an example. Two christians are talking to one another. Lies are highlighted in red.

John "How are you today?"
Peter "Fine and you?"
John "never been better, where where you yesterday, we missed you?"
Peter "I was stuck in traffic"
John "sorry to hear that, it was a great service........."

Seemingly harmless lie, do we expose it or do we keep quite about it?

If you believe it is a lie then find a time to be alone with that person and in private reveal to them everything. That you believe the Holy Spirit has revealed to you the lie. Maybe the little lie is hiding a troubled spirit, a situation that the Holy Spirit want's to use you as an agent of intervention in.

Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. But follow the Word that tells you to first expose the matter between you and the other in private.

Matthew 18
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
been there not good,at the time i didn,t want the hassle the truth brought,because they mithered so much.and they i thought sod it,if they want the truth so much give it them.both ended in not a good end.but i learned then,if i,m unconfortable with that person,keep away from them.
 
This is when I find God absolutely amazing!

I have been trying to get hold of this guy now for a few days now and he has not been returning my calls.

This morning I saw him a few cars ahead of me in the traffic. Immediately I had feelings of resentment and anger towards him.

Then I remembered that we are supposed to pray for the people who have hurt us. I prayed for him and I prayed for God to help me with forgiveness.

I prayed that whatever was holding him back from telling the truth would be removed and that he would find peace.

Half an hour later as I sat down in my office, my phone rang and guess who phoned me! We are getting together tomorrow morning like old freinds again!

God is absolutely incredible!!
 
Hallelujah!!! His timing is also remarkable...
It almost seems that He waited until you prayed for forgiveness and your friend's heart before He would allow you to get together...;)
Hope you have a great time of fellowship together.
 
Just like everyone else, I don't like being lied to. And often call people out on it when I notice a lie. I shouldn't be doing that. Brings out a harsh side of myself. I have a friend whom is a believer and a good person, but they like constantly about a lot of things I don't even understand why they would lie about it. For those who lie, I believe we shouldn't announce their lies even if they get caught. No matter how angry it makes us. Rather pray for them. Because they can lie to people, but they can not lie to the Lord. He knows every lie that passes our lips, big or small. So pray for those who lie to you.
 
We had a good time, the Holy Spirit has been working with him as well. Without me even mentioning his lie, he confessed and told me why he had been avoiding me for a few weeks.

Our God is an awesome God!
 
This is when I find God absolutely amazing!

I have been trying to get hold of this guy now for a few days now and he has not been returning my calls.

This morning I saw him a few cars ahead of me in the traffic. Immediately I had feelings of resentment and anger towards him.

Then I remembered that we are supposed to pray for the people who have hurt us. I prayed for him and I prayed for God to help me with forgiveness.

I prayed that whatever was holding him back from telling the truth would be removed and that he would find peace.

Half an hour later as I sat down in my office, my phone rang and guess who phoned me! We are getting together tomorrow morning like old freinds again!

God is absolutely incredible!!

God is awesome. Sowing love and walking in forgiveness can often be much more powerful than slapping someone in the face with their shortcomings. I am glad that your friend came around- it is obvious that the Lord used that situation ot work on both of your hearts.
 
Some very interesting and challenging posts here. How does one reply to the question
"how are you this morning"? Now, I ache badly in several joints, and have a slight headache,nothing to worry about. My op. scar is itching and I need to see a dentist with a bothersome tooth. My blood sugar is a little high, but nothing to worry about. How do I answer truthfully the question "How are you this morning"?

My general answer to friends who know me would be "About 6 on a scale of 1-10. I have a lot to thank the Lord for". To acquaintances I would just answer "Improving - things are going fairly well".

It is very difficult to answer this question honestly without boring people with a litany of aches and pains, or on the other hand appearing sanctimonious. Perhaps someone has a better method of replying truthfully.
 
We had a good time, the Holy Spirit has been working with him as well. Without me even mentioning his lie, he confessed and told me why he had been avoiding me for a few weeks.
Our God is an awesome God!

:groupray: Thank You LORD!!! :fish::fish::fish:
Thanks for the update Bro...truth will always draw us closer to God
and closer to each other.
 
A couple of years ago, I was in Wal-mart, sick as a dog. I went to the cashier to pay and she asks, "How are you today" I said, "Fine", Conviction hit. Now my family knew darned well, I was sick as a dog and I'm standing there saying, "Fine" Well, the next morning I went to have devotion and this is what the Lord spoke to my spirit. "Speak truth to every man" I knew exactly what he was referring to. So, I'm like, "But, Lord, she really didn't want to know my head and body hurt, my nose is running like a sieve and I feel bad. She was just being polite to ask. "Speak truth to every man" Then I knew that actually I could have said, I'm pretty sick but I know the Lord will take care of me. This is truth and gives the Lord the glory and an opening to witness to her. I am real careful now when someone ask "How are you" I had to confess to my family and tell them of the correction from the Lord. I'm supposed to be an example to all people, including my family.
 
This is when I find God absolutely amazing!

I have been trying to get hold of this guy now for a few days now and he has not been returning my calls.

This morning I saw him a few cars ahead of me in the traffic. Immediately I had feelings of resentment and anger towards him.

Then I remembered that we are supposed to pray for the people who have hurt us. I prayed for him and I prayed for God to help me with forgiveness.

I prayed that whatever was holding him back from telling the truth would be removed and that he would find peace.

Half an hour later as I sat down in my office, my phone rang and guess who phoned me! We are getting together tomorrow morning like old freinds again!

God is absolutely incredible!!

Amen , Keven .... Isn't that just like God . I thank the Lord for your obedience in praying for forgiveness for your friend cause satan wanted it for harm and God turned it around for good .
 
A couple of years ago, I was in Wal-mart, sick as a dog. I went to the cashier to pay and she asks, "How are you today" I said, "Fine", Conviction hit. Now my family knew darned well, I was sick as a dog and I'm standing there saying, "Fine" Well, the next morning I went to have devotion and this is what the Lord spoke to my spirit. "Speak truth to every man" I knew exactly what he was referring to. So, I'm like, "But, Lord, she really didn't want to know my head and body hurt, my nose is running like a sieve and I feel bad. She was just being polite to ask. "Speak truth to every man" Then I knew that actually I could have said, I'm pretty sick but I know the Lord will take care of me. This is truth and gives the Lord the glory and an opening to witness to her. I am real careful now when someone ask "How are you" I had to confess to my family and tell them of the correction from the Lord. I'm supposed to be an example to all people, including my family.


Wow , Bold .... that's really good . I have often thought the same thing . People just ask that question so haphazardly and it is a ho hum question and like you I always say fine cause I always think.... they couldn't care less if I am fine or not .

But for sure , now I am going to answer differently . Cause of course the Lord will look after us and that is a good testimony .
 
We had a good time, the Holy Spirit has been working with him as well. Without me even mentioning his lie, he confessed and told me why he had been avoiding me for a few weeks.

Our God is an awesome God!

:) All praise to the Ancient Of Days
 
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