honestly?

Read I Samuel 22 and Colossians 3

Let not the king impute anything to his servant, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or small. And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.”  I Samuel 22:15&16

Do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self and its practices. Colossians 3:9

It is very important that we are careful to make sure all our information is correct. A person who exaggerates or flatters or enhances his stories, injures himself—and is very annoying. Whoever lies to save his own skin exhibits a lack of trust in God.  But when Ahimelech was deceived by David, in no way was David culpable for the massacre that Saul directed against Ahimelech and the priests of Nob. Saul and his vile assassin bear all the guilt for such an evil act.

You might correctly say that if Ahimelech had not been lied to by David, he and his people would not have been massacred. But our Faith trusts God for how things turn out.

When Paul tells us not to lie to one another, I believe he is telling us not to pretend to be something we are not. While it may not be good to misconstrue the facts, it is a cancerous evil to misrepresent the state of our heart.

The Greek word for lie is pseudo like in pseudo intellectual or pseudo spiritual. It means a sham, or play acting. All of us who are Believers here on the earth would like to be better than we are. Some of us, because of what we do or where we live, believe it is necessary to present a false front. I know of  pastors who present themselves in an especially spiritual way because they know their paycheck depends on it.

I also know myself, and I know I try to make sure certain Christians only see a certain side of me .

I once was caught by a man who gave me a full thirty minute spiel about all his wonderful works and his wonderful family and his wonderful spiritual accomplishments. I knew some of the information he gave me was not true. But, more unfortunately, I knew he had some significant spiritual struggles in his life. I did not correct him, for in attempting to deceive others for many years, he had come to deceive himself.

In the Psalms we read the words of David, a man who is totally honest to others and to God about himself. “My sin is always before me.” Psalm 51:3 “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:6 “I cry out in the daytime, but You, do not hear. I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men.” Psalm 22: 2 & 6

But he also writes, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous (who is righteous? That would be David!) But the Lord delivers him from them all.” Psalm 34:19

It is only when we are honest before God and men that we can truly praise God for the mighty work He has done in our hearts and in our lives.