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everywhere by the wind, the man said it would be impossible to gather all of them up.
The priest then said let this be a lesson to you. It is easy to say something about another
person that hurts or damages the person’s reputation, but it is impossible to ever fully
undo the wrong in the minds of other people.
Should Something Bad Ever be Repeated?
This is not to say nothing should ever be said about one who is guilty of bearing false
witness or other terrible things that could be harmful to another person or persons.
However it should be a proven and established fact beyond question. Even then one
should use wisdom how to go about doing it.
To help our understanding, Jesus Christ said a tree is known by its fruits whether the
fruit it bears is good or bad (
Matthew 7:16-20
). This often requires time.
And given sufficient time a man or woman will come to be known for either having good
character or otherwise; a fact of life.
Hard for a Liar to Change
Once a person is caught in a lie it becomes difficult for anyone afterwards to know
whether that person is telling the truth about anything. He or she is no longer
believable! To lie also requires a good memory when it becomes necessary to repeat it
before others.
Though change can be accomplished, it becomes very hard to be completely believable
again by others though the person takes steps never to lie again. A major step to become
believable is to admit he or she lied to a person, and saying, “I have promised myself I
will never lie again.”
Being the brunt of a lie can sometimes lead a person wrongly to retaliate by also
fabricating a lie, or worse, against the perpetrator for having done harm to him.
Do Not Retaliate
The Apostle James wrote one should never retaliate by speaking evil against such a
person for having done harm to him.
James 4:11 “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren, he who speaks evil
of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the
law (
9
th
Commandment) . . .”
The LORD God also forbids taking vengeance that could lead to physical force being
used to bring about hurt to one’s neighbor:
11