As Good as Our Word

As Good as Our Word

Scripture Focus: ; ; ; Key Verse: -

17

Session Truth: The words that come out of our mouths are a direct reflection of the integrity of our hearts.

our hearts.

Growing up I use to hear the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but, your words will never hurt me”. I soon came to realize how that just wasn’t true. In high school I was picked on for many things such as the kind of car my family drove, what clothes I wore, and most of all for a speech inpediment I had. They would call me stuttering Scott. I remember the teacher would ask the class a question and even though I knew the answer, I wouldn’t dare to raise my hand. I knew that every time I would answer a question i’d hear a chorus of laughs that would echo in mind that would haunt me far beyond the classroom and school grounds.

● Words have power. People need to understand their words are not “just words.”

Growing up I use to hear the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but, your words will never hurt me”. I soon came to realize how that just wasn’t true. In high school I was picked on for many things such as the kind of car my family drove, what clothes I wore, and most of all for a speech inpediment I had. They would call me stuttering Scott. I remember the teacher would ask the class a question and even though I knew the answer, I wouldn’t dare to raise my hand. I knew that every time I would answer a question i’d hear a chorus of laughs that would echo in mind that would haunt me far beyond the classroom and school grounds.

Words hurt. We have the power of life or death in the tongue. When I was sixteen my dad passed away of heart disease. Some of his last words to me we’re “Scott, be strong for your mother and brother. I won’t be around much longer”. (No pressure, right?) So early on, my mind was formed around the notion that strength was seen in not showing your emotions, not allowing others to know what you really feel, and not being vulnerable with others. It’s easy to learn something for the first time but it’s a lot more difficult to unlearn something you been taught and took it as truth.

speaking the truth. What would it mean for the Church to be known for speaking the

truth?

As a story goes, a woman approached her pastor and informed him that she wouldn't be attending his church anymore. The pastor asked why. The woman's response floored the pastor.

● Truth-telling takes vulnerability, trust, compassion, and love. It’s the kind of love that

"Ah! I saw a woman gossiping about another member; a man that is a hypocrite; the worship team living wrong; people looking at their phone during service; among so many other things wrong in your church."

loves God wholeheartedly and loves our neighbors as fully committed followers of

The pastor hesitantly replied okay.... But in this story, he then made one request of the congregational member.

"But before you go, do me a favor: take a full glass of water and walk around the church three times without spilling a drop on the ground. Afterwards, leave the church if you desire."

Jesus.

The woman decided this task would be much too easy for her, the story indicated. So she walked three times around the church with a full glass of water, as the pastor had requested her to do. When she had completed the project, she went back to the pastor and told him she was ready to leave the church. His response, according to this story, was classic. And thought-provoking.

"Before you leave I want to ask you one more question. When you were walking around the church, did you see anyone gossiping?"

The woman told him "No." Then he asked if she spied any hypocrites during her walk with the water around the church. Again, the woman said "No." The pastor asked if she saw people glancing at their phones while she was strolling around the church. She said "No." Then the pastor said something that floored the woman.

"You were focused on the glass, to make sure you didn't stumble and spill any water. It's the same with our life. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we don't have time to see the mistakes of others. We will reach out a helping hand to them and concentrate on our own walk with the Lord."

Now the bearing of false testimony is not pleasing to God.()  Bearing false testimony carries with it the action of fabrication, which, simply put, means to make something up. Exaggeration fits right in with God’s displeasure because any stretching of the truth is, in and of itself, a fabrication. When God said, “You shall not bear false witness” (), this definetly relates to our hearts.

To bear implies the act of transmitting something false. The speaking of an lie communicates what is said as a false reality.People can be greatly hurt by this form of robbery. Bearing false witness robs the person of the truth and this is linked with God’s command not to steal. There are many facets to bearing false witness. Someone can help spread a rumor. One can be a false witness by an omission of the truth. One of the most haness ways of being a false witness is taking truth as puzzle pieces and organizing it in a way that doesn’t fit the original design.

People can be greatly hurt by this form of robbery. Bearing false witness robs the person of the truth and this is linked with God’s command not to steal.

Sometimes we try to justify the truth when the truth doesn’t need justifying. Truth can stand on it’s own. (). Let your yes be yes and no be no. We can be the kind of person who simply can’t say no to a telemarketer or salesman who shows up at our door. We can be the kind of person who takes on more responsibility then we can handle because we want people to like us and we don’t want to disapoint. We want to portray this image to people instead of a true reflection of who we are. I remember not to long ago a salesman contacted me and tried to sell their product. Instead of giving him an elaborate excuse of why I couldn’t purchase this time, I simply said the truth. No, I am not interested. It was so refreshing! It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder as I experienced the truth, truly setting me free, indeed!

There are several ways in which false witness can be borne. A person can help spread a rumor and thus join hands with a perpetrator. One can indulge false witness by turning a blind eye when truth is known. Someone can determine to bear false witness and therefore be guilty of premeditation. A person can simply fail to come forward with the truth or insinuate falsehood without actually saying it is so. And, perhaps worst of all, a person can spread gossip about another, thus engaging in some of the worst forms of character assassination.

Sometimes we try to justify the truth when the truth doesn’t need justifying. Truth can stand on it’s own.