23. The eighth commandment |
1. The eighth commandment
The eighth commandment of the Law of God says: You shall not bear false witness. It also refers to tell lies.
To tell false witness is to declare something which is not true and be harmful to others.
To tell lies is to say the opposite of what it is thinked, with the intention of deceive others.
Jesus teached us to always tell the truth. The high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am” (Mark 14, 61-62). He told the truth, even when He suffered maltreatments and insults and even death by saying it.
In certain ocassion, Jesus said: “Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Mateo 5,37). We must imitate Jesus, because He never told a lie.
Men is a social creature by nature, and by these we are forced to be sinceres: with God, whith ourselves and with the rest of people. Without truth it is not posible a proper cohabitation between men. In the same way that we like others be honest with us, we must be honest with them. A liar ends losing the friendship and trust of his friends. Like an old proverb says: “You can catch the liar before the cripple”
