You Cannot Love Someone and Lie to Them

A Quick Comment on Proverbs 26.

We cannot love someone and lie to them.

I find myself saying this frequently these days. I almost never mean telling an outright lie to your wife or boss. You should not do that, but that is not what I am talking about.

I am talking about a refusal to tell people the truth when you have the opportunity to.

Your best friend is destroying his life with pornography - and you don’t say anything.

A man is pushing for “full inclusion” of LGBTQ in the church and you refuse to tell him to repent. (Yes, that is the right thing to do). Instead you say nothing.

A man is neglecting his wife and kids to pursue financial gain or whatever and you applaud him for his work ethic.

Or a man is not doing a dang thing and his family is suffering because of it and no one is telling him to step up.

And everything in between.

The first 23 verses of Proverbs 26 are about foolish behavior: gossip, quarreling, deceiving, being a sluggard. Foolish things. It is a list of stuff we all do.

Then the last verse says this:

“A …