Tell ‘The Whole Truth’
A son who’d just got his driver’s licence told his parents he was meeting his friends at a restaurant. But what he didn’t say was that the restaurant had several locations and his friends were at one 100 km away. Unfortunately for him, his parents went shopping in that same area that evening. Imagine his thoughts when he stopped at an intersection, looked over, and saw his mum giving him the ‘disappointed mum look’! Paul writes: ‘…we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception… by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.’ (2 Corinthians 4:2 NIV)
Speak the plain, unembellished truth, so people know ‘...there is nothing written between the lines...’ (2 Corinthians 1:13 NLT) There are statements we don’t believe, like: ‘I will pay you tomorrow… the puppy/kitten/children won’t be any trouble… I won’t tell anybody.’ Then there are ‘...lies so clever they sound like the truth.’ (Ephesians 4:14 NLT) For example, we want to be the good guy, so we leave out the bit of the story that might put us in a bad light. Or to avoid upsetting somebody we stretch the truth. One Bible teacher writes, ‘Solving problems in a relationship is one of the most important skills you’ll ever learn. It makes for a successful family life, career, education, and social life. Unless we have these skills we’ll never be truly happy. When you have a problem with someone, state it in a gentle, positive way. If you don’t start right you’ll have little hope of ending right.’ So, ‘…hold to the truth in love.’