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Less Than the Truth

Daily Reflection / Produced by The High Calling
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"So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you."

Genesis 12:13

Shortly after Abram showed exemplary trust in God by moving to Canaan, a famine forces him to move to Egypt. Fearful that the beauty of his wife, Sarai, might jeopardize his own life, Abram connives to tell the Egyptians that she is his sister. Indeed, she is Abram's half-sister (Gen.20:12). But his ploy is clearly not truthful, in that it skips the crucial fact that Sarai is Abram's wife.

How tempting it is to be less than truthful, especially when we're afraid of what telling the truth might mean for us. We can rationalize our lack of honesty, especially when we're telling half-truths. But the testimony of conscience, not to mention the conviction of the Spirit, punctures our pretense. As God's people, we are to be truthful . . . full of truth.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Is there an area of your life that is being governed by convenient but dishonest half-truths? Are you willing to trust God enough to be truthful today?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for the blunt truthfulness of your Word. Abram is clearly one of the great heroes of Scripture, yet we see him, warts and all. Abram's example challenges us to look at our own lives honestly, to confront our own half-truths, not to mention our outright lies.

Lord, you know how hard it can be for us to tell the truth, the real truth. We're afraid of the consequences, or of the potential for relationship awkwardness. Help us, by your Spirit, to be truthful people in all of life: in our prayers and our families, at work and at play. Amen.

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