Backed by Truth

 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” ◦ Exodus 20:16  Directs our powers of communication ◦ We should not deceive one another  Requires that we always tell the truth ◦ Otherwise society would crumble ◦ Jesus is a witness to the truth  Talking with Pilate: “For this I was born… to bear witness to the truth”  John 18:37

 Deliberate attempt to mislead another  Noble lie? ◦ Alternative definition: deliberately misleading someone who has a right to know

 Someone pretends to be better than they are ◦ Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on your best behavior at times  Someone pretends to believe something just to impress others  Someone accuses of doing something that he actually does himself

 Promise: A pledge of future action  Importance of keeping one’s word when making a promise ◦ “Let your yes mean yes”  Oath: a statement using God as your witness ◦ Lying under oath is called perjury ◦ Using God to attest to your lie is a sin

 It is possible to tell the truth and still sin ◦ Because what we said wasn’t charitable ◦ We should not damage the good name of another person  “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches”  Proverbs 22:1  Detraction: malicious use of the truth to harm another  Lying to hurt another’s reputation is even worse ◦ Slander  AKA calumny  We must make amends for detraction or slander  We should also do our best to maintain a good name for ourselves ◦ Keeping our word and acting properly

 Need to be careful of how we think of others ◦ In addition to what we say about them  Rash judgment: Judge another’s character without enough evidence  Need to give the benefit of the doubt

 Gossip: Talking about another person without a good and important reason ◦ Usually exaggerated ◦ Usually has to do with their faults  We should not even listen to gossip  Violates the 5 th Commandment as well  We must keep all promises, including telling secrets