You must not testify falsely against your neighbour.
Exodus 20:16 NLT
As a mediator, I believe disputes should be resolved confidentially, quickly and cost-effectively. Legal processes fail to meet these three criteria. In fact, the only beneficiaries of any litigation are, in my opinion, the lawyers.
A recent car park incident saw my vehicle and another briefly hit, as I mentioned earlier. Without witnesses, we agreed a “no fault” incident. I was surprised and angered to receive a phone call from my insurers to say I’d been accused of severely damaging another car and failing to report an accident. I took a deep breath and politely gave my account of the situation and waited to see what would happen. Next I received a letter from my insurer explaining that unless I could produce CCTV or dash cam evidence, they were unable to support my claim that it was the other driver’s fault. I rang the insurer and they explained without this “evidence” it would need to be a knock-for-knock incident. I agreed. They paused on the end of the phone and then said, “Wow! That’s very reasonable. Most people get angry at that point.”
Life happens and the loss of my no claims bonus was simply a consequence of life. It seems that in car insurance, once trust is lost then it is replaced by an economic means to suit everyone’s lack of trust in the other.
God invites us to honesty and not to look to short-term personal advantage by misrepresenting the actions of another. The danger is that I can be reduced to the same behaviour on the grounds that if someone else does it, then I might as well join in. I might even have a sense of moral propriety, since I’m only doing what everyone else does. Instead, we are to treat each other with fairness and respect. I may not get on with everyone, yet I’ve no right to take advantage of another by speaking falsely about them. I am to represent them honestly and not exploit them for my advantage.
QUESTION
Can you identify ways in which you speak falsely?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to always speak the truth.
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