The Art of Telling the Truth Well – Part Two

THE RIGHT TRUTH

Navigating our way through relationships is challenging enough to begin with, but when certain scenarios put us at a crossroads, telling the truth can be a downright daunting task. We’ve all faced certain situations where we felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, wondering what the right thing to do is.

If I say the truth, I will hurt someone’s feelings.
If I say the truth, I will betray someone’s confidence.
If I say the truth, I will demean someone’s character.

How can I know if something is okay for me to share?

Simple. If it’s my story, I can tell it.

But not every story is my story to tell. Even when the news to spread is joyful, such as the announcement of a friend’s pregnancy, I make sure the expectant parents have already had the privilege of sharing their own news first. It’s their story.

When the story is of a more serious nature, and about someone else, Scripture is clear:

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that is may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

Is the story helpful? Will it build others up? Will it truly benefit those who listen?
Or will someone else be diminished in another person’s eyes?

Of course, I am not the only person in all of my stories. So, even if the story is my story, if it involves someone else and casts the other person in a negative light, then I must refrain.

Truth that lifts up, not tear down is the right truth.

Above all, God’s eternal truth – that every child of God is loved and accepted, forgiven and redeemed – is the right truth to tell.

What are some of the excuses and rationalizations that we tell ourselves
whenever we want to tell someone else’s story?

This series is a revised and expanded version of a singular post I wrote two years ago.