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March 15, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Full Disclosure, by Mike Barres
I love home groups. There is a closeness and a "prayerfulness" that is
special when a small group of Christians meet together on a regular
basis. I lead a home group in our church and it is also my
responsibility to order new materials for our Bible study when our
current book's lessons run out. We are studying I Thessalonians, and we
had completed our study guide that went through Chapter 3. I was
supposed to order the next set of study guides, but got busy and
forgot.
It was time for us to have our next meeting and we didn't have the
materials that we needed, so I did a review of a previous lesson.
Someone in the group asked me if the new books were in yet. I could
have said, "You are correct, they are not in yet." But instead, I had
to swallow my pride and embarrassment and say, "No, I forgot to order
them."
Some would say I could have let myself off the hook and said they
weren't in yet. However, that would have implied that I had ordered
them. I hadn't ordered them. I wasn't going to be deceitful to save
face. Full disclosure is best. It is right to be open and honest, even
if it is painful.
When Ananias and Sapphira brought the money from the sale of their
property to make a donation to the church, they would have been correct
in saying, "We are donating part of the proceeds of the sale of our
property to the church." Instead, they left the impression with
everyone that they were donating ALL of the proceeds of the sale to the
needy in the church, when in fact they were donating only part of the
proceeds. They were deliberately being deceptive to make themselves
look better: that's part of the reason why the Lord struck them dead at
this crucial point in the early church (Acts 5:1-11).
Deception is a close cousin to lying.
Deception is a close cousin to lying. Too many times, people say, "I
wasn't really lying," when in fact they were deceiving by giving an
impression that they knew was not true. God's wisdom reminds us:
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man
who deceives his neighbor, And says, "I was only joking!" (Proverbs
26:18-19 NKJV)
In addition to using deception to keep from looking back, there are
other reasons for us to practice deception. People deceive to hurt
others. They also deceive to help a friend. Another reason people
deceive is to get something they want. Sometimes people deceive to
avoid punishment or embarrassment.
As the apostle Paul reminds us, let's put away deception, falsehood and
lying, and let "each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we
are members of one body" (Ephesians 4:25).
---------
(c) 2009 Mike Barres <mbarres@dnet.net>.
RELATED LINKS:
* A World of Deception
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200703/20070319_deception.html
* I Owe You the Truth
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200611/20061128_owethetruth.html
* Fudging and Compromise
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200707/20070708_compromise.html
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200903/20090315_fulldisclosure.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
CINDERELLA - THE LOVE OF A DADDY AND HIS PRINCESS, by Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman reminds dads to enjoy the everyday moments with
their daughters. They will soon be gone.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?256
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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