When We Lie, We Steal

Verse of the day: Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

The commandment not to bear false witness against your neighbor is connected to the commandment not to steal. How, you ask? When we bear false witness, or utter untrue testimony, against someone, we rob them of their good name and reputation. It causes undue and undeserved despair for them, their family, and if they are a well-known businessperson in our neighborhood, it can bring financial ruin that affects them and their family. How often have we repeated stories about people that we heard, without even knowing whether or not it was actually true? Gossiping is a form of bearing false witness against someone. When we fail to stand up and tell the truth, when we hear someone speak lies about someone else, we become a partaker with that person, and bear false witness against the person being lied about. The bottom line is that bearing false witness against someone is outright lying (Proverbs 14:5). We can be so adamant about disciplining someone who fornicates, commits adultery, blasphemes God openly by some other behavior, but we look the other way when someone comes to us with a “juicy tidbit” about a brother/sister in Christ. If we do not stop them in their tracks, and make it clear that we do not want any part of it, and immediately set them straight about how this will affect the other person’s reputation and name, we are just as guilty as they are. Exodus 23:1 reads, “You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.” I once saw a post that read, “I am not so concerned about the fact that someone gossiped about me. I am more concerned about the fact that they felt comfortable enough to come to you and gossip about me.” May I also say this? Even if what we hear is true about the other person, we should not entertain or encourage others to tell us, or anyone else, the “story”. Instead, we should encourage them to pray for that individual, and maybe go to them and offer to help them get through whatever is going on in his/her life. Proverbs 6:16-19 makes it clear that lying and bearing false witness are an abomination to God. In 1 Kings 21, we read of Naboth, who owned a vineyard that King Ahab coveted. Queen Jezebel, in order to obtain that land for her husband, hired two false witnesses who accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. These false witnesses caused Naboth’s, an innocent man’s, death. However, the queen was just as guilty of causing Naboth’s death. When we bear false witness against others, we keep company with the likes of those who bore false witness against Jesus in Matthew 26:60. In Matthew 15:19, Jesus said that being a false witness is a wickedness that comes from the heart, along with evil thoughts, murders, fornications, adulteries, and thefts. So why do we take that so lightly amongst ourselves, when God sees it as such a vile sin? When we engage in such behavior that leads to strife and division among the brethren, it is an abomination to God (Proverbs 6). So how do we avoid bearing false witness against our neighbor? The Apostle Paul wrote this way in Ephesians 4:22-25, “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.” If we are not careful, we might drive someone away from the local church and from much needed fellowship with other believers, when we rob someone of their dignity, reputation, and good name, due to spreading something that was utterly false about them. In many cases, if we would take the time to get to know a person we hear others speak badly about, we may find that they really are not who the other person (or people) said they are. All that was said might have come from a heart of envy, and a heart that is not right with the Lord. Do not collaborate with someone by repeating, or partaking in, false statements about others.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).