Day 11 – God is Truthful

Exodus 20:16 “You shalt not give false testimony (witness) against thy neighbour.” KJV

For Israel:

Deuteronomy 17:6 “On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness”. In Hebrew law, two or three witnesses were needed to establish a claim under civil law or a crime under criminal law. If a witness “bears false witness” the punishment was death. Read James 3:6-8, the tongue is a fire that no man can tame. It is such a powerful force, and it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison, capable of evil. The Lord gave two commandments concerning this to the Israelites. One protects God’s name and another our neighbor’s. The ninth commandment forbids all dishonesty, fraud, false witness, deception, justifications, pretense, flattery, broken promises, duplicity, and the list goes on.

For today:

John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. Lying is one of the short words we can associate with giving false witness. This command has an impact on how God will judge us. Proverbs 12:22 “God hates lying words” and in Matthew 12:36-37 “God will judge every word of man”. Today, it is very easy for us to lie and we might even do it every day. However, we should be mindful that God will judge every word we say. This realization makes me very scared of all the harmful words I might have spoken to others. Lying can lead to other sins, as it demands more lies and can distance us from Jesus, our saviour. So next time you feel like telling a lie, just stop for a minute and think about the consequences. Ultimately, it all comes down to “True love” (our love for Jesus). This love leads us to be truthful in all our words and actions. We must remember that no lie is hidden from God and that we cannot deceive God. Therefore, we must always be careful and honest with our words and promises.

Prayer: Lord, for every harmful word, we are asking forgiveness for what we said. Let the words spoken by us that harm anyone be forgiven. Put a guard in front of our mouth and let our mouth and heart be in sync with each other and in line with Your will, so we can speak love and not hatred and that we can build someone’s trust and let Your light shine through us. Forgive our lies of the past in Jesus Christ’s name. Make us less and amplify Your love. In Jesus Name, Amen.

By Marie Swanepoel for www.womenoftheword.co.za