“Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.” –Proverbs 12:22
We live in a time of deep suspicion. Lying is nearly expected of each other to get ahead, to hide true motives, and to look good in front of others. Artificial Intelligence will work for you, write papers for students, research for lecturers and preachers, and modify photos to post online. Everything in our social media culture is airbrushed, cleaned up, and often completely made up for mass consumption with a high level of anticipated dishonesty.
God more than simply hates dishonesty. His Word tells us the lips of dishonesty are detestable to Him. Our God of perfect truth detests the lips of liars. It is not simply a matter of being dishonest about ourselves, but also flattery: that is, dishonesty about others. Instead of friendly criticism or correction, we can be dishonest about how we see others.
A culture dishonest about how we project ourselves to one another and how we view one another is a detestable culture in the perfect eyes of our God. God is always truth telling toward us. First, He reveals Himself in His Word. He is trustworthy to tell us nothing but the truth about Himself. Second, He is always truthful about us. God is eternally reliable. His Word is eternally reliable.
What stands out in a culture of liars and an expectation of being lied to is a person of rare honesty. This is our Lord’s call to us to be wise Christians. So, we heed this Proverb. We desire to be pleasing, not detestable, to God. God delights in our faithful dealings with others. Dishonesty about ourselves hide iniquities from others with no fearful trembling thought of God (Psalm 36:1-2). Flattering dishonesty about others are simply abounding kisses of an enemy (Proverbs 27:6).
Jesus taught us that what we say to others is simply from the overflow of our own hearts (Matthew 12:34). Honest speech is the overflow of a heart resolved to deal faithfully to the delight of God. The wise Christian is a truth speaker with words that heal rather than speaking truth to wound and to kill (Proverbs12:18). So, we speak the truth in love.
The world sits in wonder at a church loving one another as honest to and with one another rather than the deception and man-fearing masquerade the world enjoys and demands conformity to. We have been commanded to confess sin and to hear one another’s confession with honesty, all in the fear of our Lord who loves us and is always truthful with us.
An honest local church is a church that can help sinners. Dishonesty hides iniquities from Christians who can help with repentance, and flattery only tells others that their sin is okay. The church which faithfully deals with one another is a delight in the heart of God.
Let us strive to be wise and honest Christians about ourselves and others, creating a culture of love in the local church founded on the truth of God. This is the striving to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). This is the awe of a watching world who knows we are disciples of Jesus by how we love one another (John 13:35).
Heavenly Father, You are a teller of truth always. There is never deception in Your mouth. Conform our hearts to the truth of Christ, and with reliable, regenerate hearts will overflow words of truth from a reliable, truthful character. In such mighty works in Your church, such glory, honor, and praise be to our God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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