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"Therefore, putting away lying, 'Let each one of you speak truth
with his neighbor,' for we are members of one another."
Ephesians 4:25
"Because you are a Christian, your life ought to be permeated with truth. When you
were born again, God put the Spirit of truth in you (John 16:13). The Spirit’s role
is to guide you into all truth. The Spirit wants to fill your mind with whatever is
true (Phil. 4:8). If you allow the Spirit to fill you with God’s truth, you will be
truthful in your actions and in your relationships. According to Jesus, this means
that your yes will always be yes, and your no will always mean no (Matt. 5:33-37).
The world considers truth optional. Deception permeates every corner of society
because the prince of this world is the author and father of lies (John 8:44). From
his first contact with people, Satan has been lying to them and persuading them to
live in falsehood rather than in truth.
The world will tempt you to compromise the truth. You may be fooled into thinking
that you can accomplish greater good by withholding the truth. That is a demonic
deception. You cannot use deception to build the kingdom of God! God refuses to
use sinful means to accomplish His holy purposes. You may be tempted to live a lie
by projecting a false image of yourself. Jesus condemned this as hypocrisy (Luke
12:56). When you sin, you will be tempted to conceal the truth; yet only as you
confess the truth will you be forgiven and set free (James 5:16).
What you say reflects what is in your heart (Matt. 12:34). If your heart is filled
with deception, your mouth will speak falsehood. Ask God to permeate you with His
truth so that you find falsehood, in any form, abhorrent."
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