To Tell the Truth

Ephesians chapter 4 gives us a picture of what a Christian living the devoted Christian life looks like:
(22b) put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.25Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
If we are walking in the power of the new man, energized by the power of the indwelling Christ and led by the presence of the Spirit within us, it will have implications for the words we speak, and that includes telling the truth.   In a world that is committed to shades of gray, where we can be tempted to embellish accounts of our activities or to report something different that what we've witnessed, it can be challenging to live the Christian life, but I believe that God blesses the life of integrity, committed to accuracy in the way that we speak - we are to be truth-tellers.  In Colossians chapter 3, we see a great admonition to us in upholding the truth - Christians are to be honest in dealing with others:9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him...  I believe that Christians are called to a high standard of integrity in a society that is seemingly less committed to upholding truthfulness.   I came across a survey from this past spring from SELF magazine and TODAY.com about what is termed, "financial infidelity", which has enormous consequences in a marital relationship.  According to a report about the survey on Forbes.com, 46 percent of respondents said they have lied to their partners about money, including lying about purchases, hiding them in the back of the closet and clandestinely withdrawing money from joint accounts. 
The poll of 23,000 online users also found that more than 60 percent of both men and women think cheating is cheating, whether it’s financial or sexual. Two-thirds said that honesty about money is as important as remaining monogamous. About one-third said financial infidelity can sometimes lead to sexual infidelity.

About 13 percent of respondents said they’d broken up or gotten divorced over secretive spending habits.

Lying, which can mean hiding the truth or embellishing the truth - if you're not forthright on the facts, it can imperil you and your relationships - leading to mistrust in the home, in friendships, in your work, and a variety of other areas.   We are seeing play out on the national stage political and military situations where trust has eroded.   Hearings begin today in earnest in Congress to get to the truth about what happened in Libya, and Federal investigators have taken steps to get to the truth about a lapse in trust and propriety that has taken down a high-ranking official. 

As believers in Christ, we are called to a high standard of integrity - if our lives are built on God's Word, then we recognize the importance of telling the truth, the whole truth - not shading the facts or hiding information, but being transparent with our words and authentic in our lives.