Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Ex 20:16)
Whatever is not true is obviously false. Suppressing the truth, speaking unjustly, prejudicing someone's reputation, slandering, backbiting, tale-bearing (gossip) all fall under this commandment. Lying. Be it a grand scale fabrication or the little white kind is most definitely NOT in keeping with the law of God.
Think about it. How many little white lies have you told? You know, the ones that won't hurt anyone? Just a little stretch of the truth. How big was that fish, really??? How much of your own opinion did you add to that story about the guy you work with??? What really happened - quit or fired - what did you do to save face??? All those pile up - they all violate the commandment.
When we lie (our insinuations, innuendos, evil suggestions) we cause others to suffer in character, credit, and reputation, and in work. We take away from their "good" name and turn it into a nightmare. Constant misrepresentations of the truth about a person over years, telling stories that may have been true 20 years ago as if they are still relevant today, condemning their good works by overshadowing their failures (that happens a lot with husbands and wives and parents and children), all cause others to view these individuals in an untrue light. Our lies give us the unfair advantage over others, they build us up as we tear others down and we continue to hurt those whom we chatter about whether they know it or not. We teach our children that certain lies are okay. We've learned to live the lies of our ancestors and those promises we make and fail to keep are also lies.
We lift our requests to the Lord, do we lie in them too??? Are we genuine in our prayers for others? Do we pray for those we tell we will pray for??? Do we earnestly go to the Father on their behalf or are they just a name we wander across on our prayer list???
Look into your heart and ask for forgiveness. Stop lying to yourself and to others. Stop trying to lie to God - He knows you too well! Make a commitment to Him and to yourself to stop committing this sin. Let the past be just that and let today be a new day of truth and honesty in your life and your heart. Those who you would utter untruths about will thank you!
