Has anyone ever told the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I know I haven’t always been completely honest about some things. I’m not proud of it, I’m rather ashamed if I was to be truthful. I try hard to be honest. Ha funny, being truthful about not telling the truth. Anyway, one day I left the store with my basket full of purchases and while I was placing them in the car, I saw that one small item was on the bottom. I closed my car, went back to the clerk, and paid for it. But that wasn’t the case when I was sixteen years old.
I had a cute little plaid kilt, which was popular in the 70’s, but it was missing the decorative pin that kept the skirt closed. I needed that pin. I found one on a skirt at a clothing store, but I didn’t have the money to buy the skirt, so I took the pin. My conscience or really the Holy Spirit convicted me so bad I returned to the store and pinned it back on the skirt. The conviction was agonizing. From that point on, I consciously worked toward doing the right thing.
The same with lying. We all tell little white lies, as they call it. “That skirt looks so nice on you” (not). Of course, I wouldn’t have had to lie if she hadn’t asked me. White lies, black lies, it doesn’t matter because they’re the same. They’re not the truth. The old adage if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all, can be said about lying. If you can’t speak the truth don’t say anything at all. But, is staying silent the same as lying?
From the time my boys could talk they would lie. I never taught them to lie so how did they learn to do it. It’s because we are born with sin natures. When I confronted them, I learned to preface it by saying, “If you tell the truth, the punishment will be less severe.” Sometimes they took me up on it and so they received a lecture. If they lied, then the punishment was considerably worse.
The most common lie was “I didn’t do it” which came from all three boys concerning the same incident. I know one of them did it, but we never did find out who the culprit was. Over time it became ludicrous and I would say “So, your saying, I didn’t do it, did it?” They just shrugged their shoulders and asked if they could go out and play. The ghost called I Didn’t Do It roamed through the house causing havoc and breaking things for many years.
So what am I trying to convey here. For me I’ll go the extra mile to be honest and tell the truth, but I will confess I’m not perfect. What trips me up are the little white lies. Why is it so hard not to just keep my mouth shut?
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