Christian Bible Lesson 141: Be Honest, Especially When No One Is Looking

Bible Verses

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” says the Lord.” – Proverbs 12-22
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” – 1-John  3-18
“Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.”– Proverbs 19-1
“If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” 1-John 1:6
“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” – Proverbs 11:3
“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” – Proverbs 10:9

Christian Bible Lesson Overview

Many of us are truthful when everyone is watching.  It is as important to be truthful when no one is watching except God.  It may seem that there are no consequences when misleading someone if the other person will never learn the truth.  However, in that case, you are still misleading someone, and that person may make decisions based on untruthful information. 

When you make untruthful statements and the truth becomes available later, the consequences are much greater than any benefit gained from the original fabrication. 

It is so difficult to face a situation where misleading someone about something that did not matter becomes visible and downgrades your character.  There are important reasons why the Bible says not to lie.  It does not say do not lie when it affects people.  We must work hard, and tell the truth all the time, even when it does not seem to affect anyone directly.  Being truthful at the time you make a comment is difficult sometimes, but not nearly as difficult as being challenged later for misleading or telling lies. 

Christian Bible Lesson for Today

Bruce was an engineer with an automobile manufacturer for forty years.  He was involved with testing features that improved automobile safety.  He worked hard and was promoted several times.  He did not develop any features, but he did test new features and was part of the team that certified features as ready for production.

Bruce was a member of the same Church for over fifteen years.  He spoke in front of the Church frequently.  Many times, he used his experience as an engineer when speaking to the congregation.  He presented the information as though he was part of the team that developed the technology instead of testing the features.  Since no one from the company where he worked attended his Church, he did not see any harm.  The main points he made were not affected. 

The Church created a video of a special Church Service where Bruce made one of his presentations.  The video was shared with many other Churches.  One of the Churches that received the video had a member, Greg, who also worked for the same automobile manufacturer.  Greg knew Bruce was on the testing team, not the development team.

Greg contacted Bruce and told him not to mislead anyone about his experience.   Greg told Bruce that he had not decided whether to disclose the truth to his Church. 

Bruce was so depressed.  Regardless of whether he worked in the testing group or the development group; it did not affect any of his presentations.  He wished that he did not mislead on that video.  After thinking about his behavior, he realized that it is critical to always tell the truth even if it does not seem to have an effect. 

After a couple of weeks, Greg thought about the situation and decided that he would not disclose that Bruce misled the Church during presentations.  He decided that the inaccuracy did not impact the point of the presentation.  He called Bruce and let him know that he felt letting Bruce think about it for two weeks would help him be truthful in the future, even when the detail does not affect the point of his presentation.

Christian Bible Lesson Summary

It is important to always be truthful, even when we do not think a specific point affects anyone.  You should be truthful because it is one of the Ten Commandments.  But, also, you never know when a minor point may influence someone. 

Always make a major effort to be truthful, even when it does not seem to affect anyone.