I recently had a conversation with someone who confessed having cheated on their partner. This person decided (with the advice of a few friends in addition) NOT to tell. Now, what struck me most deeply was how this individual had no idea that this particular course of action was wrong, unfair and unjust. Mindless justifications quickly surfaced (as expected) which I quickly sunk. This, however, is par for the course considering that we live in times where morals are degenerating, people lie easily and the principle of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” seems to have vanished. Our instinct for truth has diminished and so is our respect and reverence for it. As a result, our respect and reverence for the God diminishes too for he is truth.
According to The Catholic Catechism one’s duty toward the truth is as follows:
“Every person is called to sincerity and truthfulness in acting and speaking. Everyone has the duty to speak the truth, to adhere to it and to order one’s whole life in accordance with its demands. In Jesus Christ the whole of God’s truth has been made manifest. He is ‘the truth’. Those who follow him live in the spirit of truth and guard against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy.”
In my previous article it was mentioned that we learn or develop an instinct for truth when we observe God’s laws pertaining to honesty. “Which laws are these?” you may ask. We need to start with the eighth of the Ten Commandments. Thou shall not bare false witness against thy neighbor. According to catechism, this commandment forbids false witness, perjury, and lying the gravity of which is measured by the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims.
Lies of omission are lies all the same. For example: Not telling your partner that you cheated is essentially cowardice. Not confronting the truth in general is cowardice. We say we will not disclose the information because we want to protect our partner’s feelings. I say no, it is to protect our own feelings. It is selfish, our cheating was selfish and it extends to our lies which are selfish.
Does no one wish to be trustworthy anymore? The Lord says: “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.” I don’t know about you, but I’d rather choose to be close to people of the former rather than the latter.
What it boils down to is, in the words of our Lord; “Do for others what you want them to do for you.” Matthew 7:12. If you were cheated on in any way, would you want the guilty party to lie to you about betraying your precious trust?
Let us look at ourselves on a daily basis and root out the hypocrisy which pervades through society into our hearts, from telling lies to living a lie. Let us make more effort to search out and observe God’s laws so that we may regain our instinct, reverence, and desire for truth. Christ said; “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”, so if we speak the truth, we speak Christ. If we live in truth, we live in Christ. That should be the goal of every Christian and all who are called to living in truth.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave comments or ask any questions. God Bless!