Proverbs 4:24 “Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put perverse lips far from you.”
Very few topics in the Word of God receive as much attention as being honest. When you look at the Ten Commandments, two speak directly about honesty as we are told to NOT STEAL and to NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. In the Book of PROVERBS, you will find it addresses lying, a false witness, a deceitful tongue, gossip, flattery, and slander over and over. One of the strongest verses about honesty is Proverbs 12:22 as it states, “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truthfully are his delight.” Proverbs will reveal just how destructive lying, being deceitful, and being a false witness are. For instance, in Proverbs 11:11, “When God blesses his people, their city prospers, but deceitful liars can destroy a city.”
Proverbs 4:24 calls for us to take personal responsibility for our WORDS and tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. To do this, we must 1) put away a deceitful mouth or DECEITFULNESS. The deceitful mouth is seeking to cover up the truth. A person covers up the truth by seeking to DECEIVE one from knowing the truth by telling a different story. When you deceive, you are seeking to divert a person from the truth.
Example of deceitfulness – you are asked if you did something that you did do and you don’t just answer NO, but you then add that someone else did it.
Then 2) we are to put far from us PERVERSE LIPS. The idea of perverse here is seeking to twist the truth so much that everyone is confused as to what the truth is. One puts so much SPIN on the story that it causes a listener’s head to spin.
Proverbs 4:24 calls on us to CLEAN UP OUR LANGUAGE!! We do not seek to deceive and divert people from the truth, and we don’t concoct stories that bring confusion to what the truth is.
Are you being very careful with your words to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Continue Strong, being completely honest,
And remember to DATE The Word