Withholding evidence...

Mark Twain states in his essay, "On the Decay of the Art of Living"

"Among other common lies, we have the silent lie -- the deception which one conveys by simply keeping still and concealing the truth. Many obstinate truth-mongers indulge in this dissipation, imagining that if they speak no lie, they lie not at all."

At the time of this quote he is actually sitting with a few people when a lady at the table and him start to have a discussion about how everyone is in fact a liar...

She goes on to say that he needs to stop because the children are present...so he does...and later they pick up the conversation and she states,  "I have made it the rule of my life to never tell a lie; and I have never departed from it in a single instance," and even again he calls her out....

Lets go back to the original quote that I used for this post. He is talking about how we tend to leave out the truth. How sometimes we deceive people around us by withholding the truth... Maybe it's something not so outrageous like neglecting to tell your wife what you were going to do, or something really serious like not telling her you lost your wedding ring. Feel free to insert your own stories here, but I truly believe we are becoming a society that tends to use the silent lie to our advantage. I am guilty to and I can attest that not only does it bring pain to a loved ones heart, but it also opens the door for distrust. 

We have to stop....we have to learn to be better than the enemy. We have to learn to step up and step out in ALL that we do. Even if you think someone is going to get angry and its not going to hurt anyone...its just one drink...or just one time...It opens the door for the enemy to move in and place a rift between you and whoever you neglected.

Let's take a look at some things in the Bible that can help us better understand where we should stand in this...

Judas Iscariot...the man who betrayed Jesus...withheld the truth from Him...Jesus said that someone would betray him (John 13:21) and Yet He didn't say a word...The silent lie....

Did you know that Jesus stated "I tell you the truth" About 25 times in the Bible...as he was sharing many truths that people didn't want to hear...

Man's wickedness can suppress the truth and result in incurring the wrath of God (Romans 1:18-19)


Truth goes hand in hand with "wisdom, discipline and understanding" (Proverbs 23:23).

You should always tell the truth in a loving way (Ephesians 4:15).

Truth has the power to set you free from the bondage of sin (John 8:31).

The Bible says that some people were lead astray from God as a result of others distorting the truth (Acts 20:30).

All of these scriptures have a big thing in common...the word Truth...and yet there are many more....

Truth (True) is defined as - Accurate or exact.

Lie is defined as - used with reference to a situation involving deception or founded on a mistaken impression.

I think we can all find that the silent lie is just as bad as the blatant lie. Here is one last thing...

If I went to court and and was trying someone for murder...and I Withheld Evidence...My entire case would lose its validity. I would lose the trial because of my unintended falsehood....what is the difference between this and our everyday lives. Lets step up and step out and be different yet again and look the enemy straight in the face...and LIE NO MORE...NO MORE WITHHOLDING EVIDENCE...put it all on the table and allow the truth to set us free! (John 8:32)