Job 27:3-4 “As long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God in my nostrils,
my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.”

Job had zero patience with platitudes that had no real relationship with immediate reality. He wasn’t going to say something that wasn’t true, just to be agreeable. That isn’t the most “socially adept” attitude, but it’s one that God appreciates, and He comments on it in Job 42:7. Society tends to demand “white lies” of us all the time, but Job is having none of it. This is an attitude that is characteristic of Perceiver/Prophet gifting, (Romans 12:6) but it is one that we all need to learn from, at least. Perceivers tend to see the world in black and white, and often, things are more nuanced than that. However, we sometimes “nuance” things right out of the realm of truth, and that is dangerous indeed. That is currently on display with the jurors who wanted to acquit the mother who murdered her three children, as a logical extension of their defense of abortion, which is also murder. “Post-partum depression” isn’t an excuse for murder! Among the other things that He is, God is Truth, just as Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) If we want the fellowship with Him that continues through eternity, we need to be in right relationship with truth in every area of our lives.

I had the huge blessing of being raised by a father who held absolute honesty as one of his guiding principles. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate fiction that was presented as such, or that he didn’t tell jokes that hinged on multiple meanings of words, and it didn’t mean he always spouted everything he knew about something. However, deception was the furthest thing from him, and that was one of the things that gained him the huge respect that was granted him. I have sought to live the same way, and indeed, almost lost a friend by refusing to cover for him when he was doing things behind his wife’s back. However, a friend who is lost that way isn’t worth keeping. I have made mistakes in the opposite direction, saying more than I needed to, simply because I knew it. I very much need the Holy Spirit to put brakes on my mouth! That said, one of the greatest joys of my life, and one of the purposes of my life, is speaking the truth of God. I can and do talk interminably when I find an audience for God’s truth! As my father noted, way back in 1965, I have a gift for words, but I am to use those words to heal and not wound needlessly, even when healing calls for a scalpel. I am to speak the truth in love always, not to condemn but to lead to repentance. And I am to apply that truth to my own heart and life, allowing God to rearrange me however necessary, so that I may be an effective servant and representative for Him.

Father, thank You for this clear Word. However, I don’t know if it’s what You want me to speak to the congregation on Sunday. Help me hear You accurately and speak for You faithfully, so that Your purposes may be accomplished in and through me on Your schedule, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!