Has fast food ever disappointed you? Their advertising makes very big promises to us. The photos make the food look simply amazing. However, you open the box, and the reality can be very different! The picture doesn’t match up with reality, you could say it bears false testimony. In Exodus 20:16, God gives his people the ninth commandment:
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.”
Words Have Consequences
At first glance, we might simply hear, “Don’t lie,” and that’s certainly part of it. However, the command is more specific. It’s about giving false testimony about another person, saying something about them that isn’t true. Why does this matter so much? Because words have consequences.
Imagine someone in your workplace saying, “She fudged the numbers.” You know the accusation is false but suddenly people start looking at you differently. A false accusation can damage a person’s reputation, friendships, and opportunities. Words don’t simply disappear into the air. Misused words can cause enormous hurt.
If you are to flip this command into the positive, it would be more than simply avoiding lies. God calls us to love the truth, to protect it, uphold it and speak it, especially when someone else’s reputation is at stake. The best way to understand the importance of truth is to look at Jesus. In John 14, Jesus says:
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
The Good News of Jesus
Jesus doesn’t simply tell us the truth. He is the truth. He is God’s truthful witness. If we want to know what God is really like, we look at Jesus. Jesus doesn’t distort God, exaggerate God, or misrepresent God. He shows us the Father as he really is. So, when we see Jesus willingly die on the cross, we see the truth about God’s extraordinary love and kindness for us.
However, Jesus also tells the truth about us. Like a doctor giving us a difficult diagnosis, Jesus exposes the truth about our hearts and our problem with sin. But Jesus doesn’t tell us this to shame us. He tells us the truth so that he can bring us life. This is where the good news of Jesus changes everything.
When we understand that we are more sinful than we realised, we also discover that we are more loved than we could ever imagine. Because we are loved by grace, we don’t need to hide, cover up or prove ourselves. When we experience the life-giving power of Jesus’ truthful words, we are moved to use our own words to bring life to others. So, the ninth commandment is not simply, “Don’t lie.” It is an invitation to become people who love the truth and use our words to bring life.