Watering down truth?

I said to myself, “I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say. I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me.”  But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse. (Psalm 39:1-2 NLT)

Watch what you do - hold your tongue - because one moment of indecision or distracted attention can end up in a load of misery and guilt. The more we attempt to watch our tongue, the more sensitive we may become to what is being said around us by those who are definitely not as conscious of their words. In fact, we may want to confront them for their words - whether they be harsh or judgmental, lies or just purposeful misguided trickery. Stand in silence way too long and it is as though you condone what is being said, the misleading lies standing as truth in your eyes, too. There are moments when we should stay silent and those in which it is time to stand up and speak the truth in wisdom. We need Jesus' help to know which is which.

Turmoil within grows as we remain silent in the face of others telling lies or distorting the truth, doesn't it? In today's rather popular vernacular, we might say they are sharing 'false news' and getting away with it because no one is standing up for the truth. While I am not a 'street corner' preacher, I am not afraid to speak the truth when lies abound. How about you? When you see information that isn't truthful, do you just discount it, turning a blind eye to it? Or do you find a way to shine just a bit of light by bringing truth into the moment? I try to be a 'truth bringer' whenever I can because there are just way too many opportunities for folks to get the wrong message and not nearly enough for them to hear the right ones!

The ungodly have a way of making us want to say what we feel rather than always speaking out in wisdom, tempering our words, but still speaking plain truth. Some think tempering one's words means we water-down the truth, but it is nothing like that. We don't need to be afraid of the truth - it is a two-edged sword, and I don't know many swords that don't have the potential to cut through stuff, do you? Emotions can get the best of us, making our words come out rather brusque or what some may label as 'judgmental', especially when we are attempting to confront what others are pedaling as truth when it is really anything but truth. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our words, so those who are hearing them hear more than words, but experience the hope that is contained in the truth.

Truth never needs to be watered-down in order to be heard. It needs to be plainly spoken, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in the authority given to us in Christ Jesus. When we listen closely to the prompts of the Holy Spirit, taking emotion out of the mix, the truth becomes quite clear and gives guidance to those who hear it. Just saying.