“Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is one who gives false testimony against a neighbor.”
The “Let God Be True” commentary describes the meaning behind this verse this way, “You can smash a person’s hopes, reputation, or life, if you testify falsely against him or do not tell the whole truth. You can cut him deeply, as with a sword, if you fail to deliver him from trouble, when you know the truth about a matter”. Wow! That’s strong…and very accurate. I don’t know if that has been done to you. I suspect it has to all of us at some point in life. If you wrestle with what exactly false testimony is we can simplify it as lying. Here we see that lying about a neighbor is as destructive a weapon as we can find. It will kill them. Maybe not physically but certainly their reputation and, in the case of a believer, their witness. This type of testimony about a neighbor is done most often to beat them at something, take advantage of them or out of simple jealousy. It is the bully’s technique to put another down to lift themselves up rather than recognize the power in building everyone up. Finally, this deception will ultimately be revealed and the truly guilty will be exposed. Today speak truth and bless rather than curse. #BeTheEdge
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
