Close Your Mouth!

                               

 

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices”

Colossians 3:9

 

Sounds like a simple enough charge from the writer of Colossians doesn’t it?

“Don’t lie to each other....”

But maybe you can agree with me that sometimes it can be the simple truths that trip us up most often.

We fail to take them seriously or we water them down.

“Who doesn’t lie every now and then?”

But although it may be more common than we want to admit, that does not justify it.

This is the admonition of Zechariah 8:16

“These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other,

and render true and sound judgment in your courts;”

God will honor you as you speak the truth and do not lie.

But what about the times the truth may hurt someone?

Ask yourself this: Is it necessary to speak at all?

Sometimes that old adage rings true –

If you can’t say anything good, then don’t say anything at all.

Yes, sometimes wisdom is found in a silent tongue.

Just ask the writer of Proverbs -

“Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.”

Proverbs 10:19

The best counsel against lying may simply be – close your mouth!