Section 5
“You shall not perjure yourself, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak evil, and you shall not bear a grudge.
You shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued, for to be double-tongued is a trap that will bring you to your demise.
Your speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed.”
One of the first ways we intrude our thoughts, our fears, or emotions into the lives of others is by how we communicate.
In summary:
We are called not to:
Perjure ourselves
Bear false witness
Speak evil
Be Double Tongued
Have false speech
Perjuring yourself and bearing false witness revolve around legal issues. If you were called to testify in a court of law (let’s say you had to speak truthfully, even if in doing so, it negatively impacted someone your care about.) You are called to never lie about events or make false testimony for someone. It does not matter who it is.
The Truth is the Truth.
Being Double Tongued is to say one thing to one person, and something completely different to another. It is to be a hypocrite. Having false speech is similar to this, but this can be just out and out lies.
To speak evil is saying anything that causes others harm.
What do I take away from this: Speak Truth and show kindness in our speech.
Practice: Review how you speak to family, friends, and co-workers. Do you always tell the truth? Do you use false or empty speech among them? Do you always speak kindly to them?
Make a commitment to gradually improve your speech so you spend more time speaking Truth, and less time speaking lies, half-truths with others. If you cannot say something nice to others, don’t say anything at all. Better to observe quiet than cause strife by poorly chosen words.