On Telling the Truth…

“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips… Do not testify against your neighbor without cause or use your lips to deceive.” *

Our phone doesn’t ring as much as it used to!  After buying a new phone system for the house, we decided to set up the “Smart Call Blocker” feature it offered. Since we, just like most folks, were being inundated with robocalls that sounded like a very good feature.

Once a directory list was set up for preferred callers, anyone who called and wasn’t in the directory had to give his/her name and press the pound key in order for the call to go through. This eliminated nearly all of the undesirable calls and the constant ringing of the phone.

 When a phone call made it through the screening one afternoon I answered it, assuming it was someone we knew, in spite of the fact that neither the name or the phone number that were displayed on the screen were familiar to me.

“Hi,” said a female voice in a syrupy tone. “This is your granddaughter.”

Red flags went up instantly in my brain. Oh no! It sounded like a familiar scam—a grandchild visiting in another place, sometimes out of the country, in trouble and needing help. The caller would say that it was an emergency and ask the individual who innocently answered the phone to send a gift card or money.

My first response? “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a granddaughter.” Then I hung up!

The truth is that I do have a granddaughter, Kendra, who is away at college. However, the name and phone number on the screen of the phone didn’t match with hers and in order to protect myself, my first response was to tell a little fib.

I was disappointed with myself while at the same time being angry with the girl who was trying to con people out of money. After all, she told the first lie, trying to deceive me. Nevertheless, a fib is still a lie, even though it might be small and insignificant.

The consequences of her lie would have been far more serious than mine! And how many other people had she already contacted? But that wasn’t an excuse for my untruthful response. It would have been better to have ended the call the phone as soon as I realized that the caller was an imposter.

Lying can be a bad habit, one easy to get into but hard to get out of! Kids do it all the time in order to keep from getting into trouble. When confronted with questionable behavior their first response? “Not me! I didn’t do (or say or take) it!” Come to think of it…

Years ago, when the leader of a Christian group on my junior college campus asked me if I was a Christian, I looked him in the eye and said, “Yes.”  That effectively ended our conversation, but it left me feeling confused and somewhat guilty because I really wasn’t sure that I was indeed a Christian.

In fact, prior to that time, Jesus had seemed like a historical figure who lived in the far distant past, not someone who was living, real and who wanted to have a personal relationship with me. The fact that I felt unsure and guilty was proof that He really was there, knocking on the door of my heart.

It took a while before admitting that I had never made a commitment to Christ. The feeling of confusion was replaced by overwhelming joy when I prayed and asked Him to take control of my life. I never owned up to our leader though. Pride is definitely an obstacle to truth telling!

Well, our words are indeed important. Solomon emphasized this through the proverbs he taught his son, wanting him to gain wisdom and understanding by honoring God in his words as well as in his actions.

“A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:23-24 NIV) And then there’s the comparison of an honest answer to a kiss on the lips! Sweet!

If we desire to honor the Lord, if we commit our lives to following Christ, then our words should helpful, encouraging, loving and truthful. It’s a good thing that each day brings with it the chance to start anew! Thank you, Lord!

 *Proverbs 24: 26,28 NIV

Photo: A staged kiss! My cousin Vickie on right, kissing me and Grandma Adele Cochran and unidentified arm holding on to me.

                                  

Grandma still loved me even though I called her a "snake" on the telephone. Woops!