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The Power of Truthfulness, June 21
The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is
but for a moment.
Proverbs 12:19
.
There are those who have so closely identified themselves with the
truth that nothing, not even martyrdom and death, could sever them from
it. Those who would evade the truth by silence, fearing to offend someone
else, testify to a lie. Playing fast and loose with truth and dissembling to
suit the opinions of someone else, means the shipwreck of faith. Let us
despise falsifying. Let us never by a word or act or by silence testify to a
lie....
All who make untruthful statements ... are serving him who has been
a liar from the beginning. Let us be on our guard against untruthfulness,
which grows upon him who practices it. I say to all, make truth your
girdle. Be true to your faith. Put away all prevarication and exaggeration.
Never make a false statement. For the sake of your own soul and the souls
of others, be true in your utterances. Never speak or act a falsehood. The
truth alone will bear to be repeated. A firm adherence to truth is essential
to the formation of Christian character. “Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness”
(
Ephesians 6:14
).
He who utters untruths sells his soul in a cheap market. His falsehoods
may seem to serve in emergencies. He may make business advancement
because he gains by falsehood what he could not gain by fair dealing. But
he finally reaches the place where he can trust no one. Himself a falsifier,
he has no confidence in the word of others.
There is absolutely no safeguard against evil but truth. No man can
stand firm for right in whose heart the truth does not abide. There is
only one power that can make and keep us steadfast—the power of God,
imparted to us through the grace of Christ.
Connected with Christ, human nature becomes true and pure. Christ
supplies the efficiency, and man becomes a power for good.... Truthfulness
and integrity are attributes of God, and he who possesses these qualities
possesses a power that is invincible.
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