Day 1 The Lying Tongue

I invited you along on this journey to abstain from wrong uses of our tongues. I concede that these ideas are the opinions of the author (strong and convincing enough mind you that they were published!) from her book 30 Days to Taming Your Tongue. I encourage you to purchase this little pocketbook and read along. Some of the ideas you may not agree with and you may not even recognize or relate to them in yourself. I challenge you to ask God to reveal if any of these ways are in you. As we talk about deceit this first chapter, remember that deceit or trickery is one of satan's favorite things to do and our eyes may be blinded.
Although correction can be painful, I know that God intends it for your good. My prayer is that our hearts will be open. I hope too that we will realize all of the willpower in the world will not be sufficient to bring permanent change. I believe that only the Spirit of God can bring true change in bridling our tongue and bringing it into submission. Deborah Smith Pegues also gives a caveat in this book that it is not meant for us to avoid expressing personal boundaries, desires or displeasure with situations. Confrontation is sometimes needed for resolution but we can learn to speak wisely and in a timely manner.
So all of this being said, let this be our cry for change in a lying tongue. Psalm 120:2 'Save me O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.'
The author proposes lying comes in four basic ways. Deceitfulness, half-truths, exaggerations and flattery. Flattery gets the whole next chapter to itself.
Are you uncomfortable with me already?
Deceive according to Websters is to mislead by a false appearance or a statement; trick.
Deceit is in essence, not trusting God with an outcome. When we feel the need to manipulate or trick in a situation, we are taking it into our oh so human hands. Yikes.
Integrity derives from the word integer. It is a mathematical term that means a whole number as opposed to a fraction.
The other day my husband, son and I were shopping for supplies to finish our gates. We had left and I was looking over the bill when I realized they had only charged us for 6 boards when we had taken 8. They were $2.84 a piece. Wade did not hesitate as he found somewhere to turn around and go pay for those two boards. What an example to our son and to my heart. It was a teachable moment about the meaning of integrity and walking in truth. Would you turn back for $5.86 plus tax? Would you turn back for a quarter?
Do you know anyone who exaggerates the truth? I do and often I don't put much merit into the things they say. I find it sad to base their credibility on that but sometimes I cannot see through the filter of their past storytelling.
I too need to learn to be enthusiastic about telling a story versus embellishing it for attention.
God has a stern warning in Revelation that all liars will be seperated from Him. How serious are you in taking your tongue temperature around lying? Bring to God in confession those areas which are weak.
Speaking the truth:
'My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just, none of them is crooked or perverse' Proverbs 8:7,8