Why is truth telling so important?  Another way to answer this question is to consider what impact it has on trust.  Isn't trust an essential ingredient to community.  If "truth" isn't a staple in the diet of community, then one sooner or later, and probably sooner, loses trust in others, and if there is no trust, there's no community.

Community isn't some nebulous concept.  There's community between two in a marriage, between three and more in a family, and even more when we speak about communities formed in our church, our neighborhood, city, region, state, and country.  False testimony has a corrosive effect on these communities, and eroding community impacts us personally.  

What impact does deception, lying, etc. have on our relationship with God?  Our personal relationship with God is a "community," isn't it?  If we loosely value truth-telling, it bespeaks a slippery slope in our relationship with God, one that we will have a hard time nurturing, cultivating, and deepening.  

God is truth.  Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  The triune Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, live in perfect unity, perfect community, because in part, it is based upon truth.  Truth is a foundational block to community, as is love.  If truth, among other attributes, is the sin qua non to community, then we ought to aspire to be as truthful as possible. 

Being truthful isn't optional.  It's critically important to our life in community, so important that God made it one of the 10 quintessential elements of the constitution for life in community:  the 10 Commandments. 

Enjoy your Life Group, and continue to aspire to live truthfully, honestly, and with integrity.  Our life together can be so much more! 

Blessings, and enjoy your Life Group this week.

Michael