False Witness

<<misleading testimony>>

of deliberate lying, that discredits the integrity of others and destroys relationships the Bible states, “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully…” (Eph 4:25). We are to speak the truth about our fellow man, not to produce in the mind of a third party a wrong attitude or belief.

Speaking or writing what is not true can take many forms: something false we invent and spread, repeating a dishonouring report, exaggerating, veiling or misrepresenting the truth because of fear or enlarging on the facts with the intention to impress others. All these are inaccurate representations.

A good policy is to THINK before speaking:
   is it True?
will it Help?
   is it Inspiring?
  is it Necessary?
  is it Kind?

Living by this motto will prevent us being a false witness, which is one of the Ten Commandments expressly forbidden by God, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” (Ex 20:16). “The Lord hates…a false witness who pours out lies” stating before others that something untrue is true, or true that is not true with the intention of hurting someone else or ruining their reputation (Prov 6:16-19). A person who bears false witness is controlled by a sinful human heart which defiles them (Mt 15:19).

Jesus also recognized that Christians sometimes suffer from false witnesses with evil intent. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Mt 5:11). Paul termed them “momentary troubles” in the light of eternity (2 Cor 4:17). How we handle them is important though. If we hold on to hurt from another, this will come through in our speech. Instead of just facts, there will be raw emotion and criticism of that person. A good test is would I like this said about me? (Lk 6:31).

See also: commandments, deception, false, false teachers, gossip, honesty, lying, response, slander, tongue, truth, words.