Even if you’ve never had to testify in court, a thousand TV shows have made you familiar with the question, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” Why not just make people swear to tell the truth? Or make them promise not to lie?

 

Any parent who has ever had to interrogate a child about a broken cookie jar or a scuffle over a toy knows the answer. There are plenty of ways to try to get out of trouble without technically lying. You tell just enough of the truth to skate on by. 

 

We often play the game of seeing how close we can get to sinning without technically going over the line. 

 

But in our heart of hearts we know that this is not what God intended when He gave us the commandments. He’s not giving us a merely negative rule and challenging us to just barely stay away from this or that. There is much more to each commandment than a prohibition. We shouldn’t just avoid murdering people — we should be of service to our neighbor.

 

For each negative prohibition in the commandments there is a positive good that we are to cherish and protect. In the Eighth Commandment, that gift is the reputation of our neighbor and our relationship with him:

 

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

 

What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

 

Your relationship with your family members (who are your nearest neighbors), the other members of your congregation, your coworkers and your friends is one of the most precious gifts you have been given. You need to exercise good stewardship with this gift just as much as you need to exercise good stewardship with your life, resources, time and income. This is an especially fragile gift because it’s easy to ruin a relationship with slander and talking behind someone’s back.

 

But speaking well of your neighbor in Christian love is absolutely free; it costs you nothing, yet it pays you great dividends. If you find this challenging at times, if you are tempted to speak ill of others, just remember that this other person is also a beloved child of God for whom your Lord Jesus suffered and died. Your Lord Jesus loves you both.