Honesty is important. But when push comes to shove it’s easy to let a lie slip when it will make things easier for us or when it covers up a mistake we’ve made.

It was Mark Twain who said: “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” Ain’t that the truth. Deception and gossip don’t seem to have a problem finding friends to accelerate their message.

There are times when telling the truth is hard. But since we honour and follow a God of truth, telling the truth is a noble thing to do, even when it costs us something.

Martin Luther King Jr said: “I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world.”* He was assassinated in 1968. He said honest things. He said true things. It cost him. But he is still remembered as a colossal man of God because he stood up for God’s truth.

Consider the apostles in the early years of the church. They were beaten by the authorities and told to stop speaking in Jesus’ name. Acts 5:41-42 records what they did next: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Can you imagine being beaten by the authorities and told to not speak in Jesus’ name? And can you then imagine “rejoicing” because you had been “counted worthy of suffering disgrace for that Name”? And then can you imagine teaching about Jesus in public anyway?

Jesus said that God’s word is truth (John 17:17). Shortly thereafter he was hanging on a cross. And yet that truth has changed the world!

Let’s be people who tell the truth, even when it’s hard. With humility and grace, let’s tell the truth in our conversations, and through the example of our lives. When we do, God will be glorified.

“I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world.”

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Notes:

-“People of the Word are people of their word—in these 3 ways.” Click here. Sermon.

-*From his book: “The Most Durable Power,” as quoted in:  Richard Lischer, The End of Words (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005), preface.

-The Up Daily Devotional is celebrating 10 years! Recently I was interviewed by Life 100.3FM (Ontario’s Christian Superstation) about this devotional. Stay tuned for more details.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.