I am not to lie to you

I am not to lie to you, I am not to lie. In all things, I must speak the truth and that includes when I talk about my feelings. Of course, I must be wise about these things but in being wise, I must not lie.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:9 'Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.'

Indeed I must not lie to my fellow Christians which also implies I must not lie to anyone at all. O how I have fallen short, how I have miserably fallen short!

But I do not despair because my disposition is one of repentance and a willingness to put off my old self and to live in accordance with my new nature. Indeed God's mercies are renewed every day and they are sweetly and kindly renewed towards me.

If it is indeed how I feel, I must say it. If I have great difficulty in believing any of God's promises, I must not lie about it but express the truth of my feelings about it. I must not indeed be a hypocrite about these things. I must not say to others that I am praying when indeed I am not.

I am not to lie about God's revealed truth but I must be sensitive about it. If I see a brother or sister in error concerning a doctrine, I must not shy away in correcting them in the spirit of love and gentleness in as much as it is my place to do so. I must not soften God's difficult truths for the sake of feelings but I must be wise. If it is an outsider, I must pick my fights. It is worthless to throw pearls to swine. And by swine is meant someone who does not have an open heart and is very obstinate. I may as well keep my mouth shut than to be abused!

I must definitely not lie to God. O what a foolish thing! He sees and hears all and He knows the thoughts of my heart. So I may as well be before him as an open book and read accordingly as it is revealed. Help me Lord, Help me always be truthful!

K.Oni