A New Way of Being: 10 Lessons From the Sermon on the MountSample

Day 6: Being Truthful In a book titled, “The Day America Told the Truth” James Patterson and Peter Kim note that 91% of individuals surveyed confessed to lying routinely about trivial matters, 36% confessed to lying about important matters, 86% confessed to lying to parents and 75% said they lied to friends and siblings. In this passage, Jesus explains that his disciples are to be truthful people. Our words matter because they are a key aspect about what it means to be made in the image of God. When God created the world, he used words to catapult everything into existence. At his command, stars erupted with brilliance in space. With his words, living creatures were made, seas and mountains were formed (Gen 1:1,3). Our God is a God who speaks and He has revealed himself through Jesus whom the Apostle John calls the “Word of God” (John 1:1). When we speak words, we display our God given image. If we speak words that are false, we undermine the very image that we are supposed to reflect. In addition to Jesus being the Word of God, the Apostle John also tells us that Jesus represents all truth (John 14:6). This means that Jesus is the perfect revelation of God. And so, if we, as disciples, do not speak truthfully, our words undermine not only the image of God, but our words also contradict the Lord whom we follow. Jesus is telling us we should never have to validate our words by swearing, but that every word that comes out of our mouths should be true. Question to Ponder: How do I most often use my words in ways that do not honor God? Why? What changes will I make in the way I speak so that I can demonstrate my commitment to Jesus?