Putting Falsehood on the Shelf

Ephesians 4:25

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.

Putting Falsehood on the Shelf

Why do people lie? We know we can lie – people do it all the time. Maybe the question to ask to begin this contemplation is why do we lie? Is it to get out of trouble or save ourselves from embarrassment? Sometimes it’s to cover up a mistake we don’t want to admit we made. Or perhaps we lie because we don’t want to have a difficult conversation. For one reason or another, lying often seems to be about taking the easy way out.

In this verse – we are reminded that we live in a world of neighbors, that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. And those neighbors, those connections need to know that we are telling them the truth. They need to know they can count on our word to mean something. It isn’t easy to decide to take the ability to tell a lie out of our ways of being present in the world. We can come up with all kinds of excuses about why we don’t want to tell the truth. But putting falsehoods away, letting them stay in a box on the shelf might be exactly what we need to do to be real in our relationships, and connect with one another on a path of love. This one is an invitation to prayer for sure – we might be surprised that it isn’t as easy as we would like it to be. We need to feel the presence of God’s love with us on the journey to speaking truth in love.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Please help me recognize your call to being genuine and truthful and loving toward the people I meet along the way. In Jesus Name, Amen

Reflection Questions:

1) Do you see lying as an option to keep you out of a difficult situation?

2) Does it ever feel right to you to lie?

3) Can you think of a time you told a lie that you wish you hadn’t told? Can you open yourself to confess to God about that lie?