Liz's Letters

Lies. Dishonesty. Eliminating information. Lack of Integrity. They all fall in the "untruth" category in my opinion. But some people seem to believe that leaving important information out of communication is not exactly a lie. Is it? I don't feel that I have to tell everyone everything, but there are some relationships that require the whole truth. For example, my husband. If I went shopping and to lunch with a friend but told him that I only went to lunch - eliminating the shopping - I would consider that a lie. He probably would too. I find myself thinking about this "idea" quite a bit the past few weeks. My son recently had to fill out paperwork for security clearance to get an internship with a federal law enforcement agency. I found myself asking him if he left anything off. Had he given all the information? If anything had been left out, I was concerned it would look like he was trying to cover up. But isn't that why we leave out information, generall...

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16 Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul. He said the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself. And a huge part of loving someone is being honest with them, also being the 9 th of the 10 Commandments. Sometimes being honest is difficult because it is painful. I have been in a few situations like this, one in particular was gigantic in my mind. I hid the truth for a long time, torn between protecting trust but also knowing that the truth should be revealed to someone, somewhere. It involved sin and dishonesty in the leadership of a church. But the reason I held it in confidence was because I loved my friend. So, is it right to share the truth even when it could hurt someone? Or should we conceal the truth in order to spare their feelings? Reputation? Or in this case their job? This has become one of the biggest questions that I have ever asked. I had...