Proverbs 6:19

There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests: a false witness who pours out lies…

Have you ever “borne false witness” about another person? This is the type of lying that does injury to others or tries to make oneself seem more important or more righteous in the eyes of men. Have you ever slandered someone? Spread a rumor? Gossiped? Do you usually remain silent when someone else’s reputation is being trashed or impugned? You may qualify as this type of false witness.

The lies told by a false witness come from the sinful human heart—along with murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, slander, and evil thoughts (Mth. 15:19). The only possible cure for an evil heart that bears false witness is to receive a new, pure heart, which can only be given by God (Ez. 36:26). When a person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, he will be like a fresh spring or a fruitful tree or a budding vine, bursting with good things (Ps. 1:3). Those who are in Christ have a new heart that speaks the truth: “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor” (Ep. 4:25). A person who bears false witness is controlled by the flesh rather than by the Spirit of God, and he should repent of that sin and turn to Christ.

Our world has gotten so used to this type of communication that it hardly recognizes “a false witness who pours out lies”. We Like and Share and Re-Tweet stories that trash people’s reputations. We send Private Messages so that our attacks and/or slanderous words don’t see the light of day. We share unnecessary details when we ask others to pray for this person or that person. We deny the dirty truth about our own sins while shining the spotlight on everybody else’s.

Like King David in his great prayer of repentance, we must cry out to our Master, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). None of us wants to be the victim of a false witness…so let’s work hard to not to to to others what we don’t want done to us.