"...You shall not bear false witness"
Matthew 19:18 AMPC
You Shall Not Lie
Praise Your holy and mighty name! You are good and good alone Father! Thank You for showing us how to live and speak truthfully in everything we do. When we miss your leading, thank You for being patient with us and guiding us back on the narrow path.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:25 KJV
Greek word for lying is pseudos-(whatever is not what it seems to be, deceitful, falsehood)
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24 KJV
⇒The Greek word for truth is alētheia-(what is true in any matter under consideration, fact)
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Colossians 3:9 KJV
⇒4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Ephesians 5:3-4 KJV
• The Greek word for foolish talking is mōrologia-(silly talk, or nonsense)
• The Greek word for jesting is eutrapelia- (humour, facetiousness-treating serious issues with deliberate inappropriate humour)
18 Like a madman who casts firebrands, arrows,
and death,19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor and then says, Was I not joking?
Proverbs 26:18-19 AMPC
• We as believers should be careful to not prank (which is harsh or inappropriate practical jokes or trick), or joke inappropriately about one another.
1.Would we like it if God played a joke on us?
2.We should rather encourage one another, pray for each other, give thanks to the Lord, have joy and laughter in the Lord.
2 Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing. Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.
Psalm 126:2 KJV
Our joy and laughter should come from the Lord. We can also have joy and laughter from our brothers and sisters in Christ because of fellowship and the goodness of the Lord.
Pranking or Tricking people.
1. Why do we laugh when someone is deceived by a coarse prank or inappropriate trick?
2. Does this come from the Lord?
3. Is this type of behavior pleasing to the Lord?
8 For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [lead the lives of those native-born to the Light]. 9 For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life. 10 And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]. 11 Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.
Ephesians 5:8-11 KJV
Un-intentional & Intentional lies
Sometimes, we may unintentionally lie about something. For example; if someone asks me about the amount of touchdowns I scored my senior year in high school, and I respond with a number that I thought was correct but it turned out incorrect, I lied by mistake. When we realize we have done that we need to ask the Lord for forgiveness and He will forgive us.
In the past, I have intentionally lied to get out of trouble. I lied to my psychiatrist when I was in the NFLPA Substance Abuse program because I was smoking marijuana. I had failed a second drug test and I told them that my friend used my vaporizer and there was some THC left over from them using it. It was completely false and I was wrong for that. I knew that a second failed test would have cost me 4 game checks in the NFL. I asked the Lord to forgive me and I will not do that again. It is easier to be honest so you can sleep at night peacefully and know that you are in right standing with God.
Numbers 15 teaches us about intentional and unintentional sins: 27 And if any person sins unknowingly or unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
28 And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who commits an error when he sins unknowingly or unintentionally, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
29 You shall have one law for him who sins unknowingly or unintentionally, whether he is native born among the Israelites or a stranger who is sojourning among them.
30 But the person who does anything [wrong] willfully and openly, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one reproaches, reviles, and blasphemes the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people [that the atonement made for them may not include him].
31 Because he has despised and rejected the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
Numbers 15:27-31 AMPC
Today, when I unknowingly lie, I sometimes feel a conviction that the Holy Spirit is letting me know that what I said was wrong and I have to correct it. I asked the Lord to bring a strong conviction on me to either warn me or let me know when I'm doing wrong. He has answered my prayers. I am thankful because I'd rather receive the rebuke now so I won't have to get it on Judgement Day.
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