My father had a gas station back in the 1950’s when the gas islands had
hoses for air and water to service customer’s cars.
A boy came by each day on his bike to drink water out of a hose but
always left it in a mess on the ground.
This irritated my father, so one day he gently told the boy,
“Son, don’t drink out of that hose!
That’s the water they use for the toilet!”
While a humorous anecdote, this is a great example of speaking
'The Truth' — but not the WHOLE Truth!
You see, truth is not partial - it’s WHOLE.
Abraham, didn’t (exactly) 'lie'
that his wife was his sister (cousins were often called
sisters) but he said this to mis-lead King Abimelech and save
his own skin by telling a truth that was factual
- but not entirely accurate.
Likewise, when we speak we need to be forthright in
how we present things to others and not mislead people
by not being totally honest. Even though what
we say may in fact be technically 'true',
in essence when we are incomplete in not telling the whole truth,
that 'partial truth' is really a misleading lie.
Jesus said, “But let your word
'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and
'No' mean 'No.' For anything beyond that
is of evil.” (Matthew 5:37)
So friend, when you speak, be clear!
...and not speak to (“truthfully”) mislead.
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