Psalms 19:14
“14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
The Importance of Right Words - part 2
Exaggeration is also a sin. It is turning the truth into a lie to try to make something seem bigger or better or worse than it really is. It is suggested that some fishermen know how to exaggerate the size of their catch. Fishermen are not the only ones with this problem. A farmer might have a 50 bushel per acre crop but he wants his neighbours to think he is an exceptional farmer so he may boast of a 90 bushel per acre crop. Christians can exaggerate as well about their walk with God. They can suggest they spend more time in personal devotions than they actually do. They can also suggest they spend more time witnessing than they actually do. Some pastors exaggerate the number of people saved in their church to try to keep up with some other church. Exaggeration is sin. It is a form of lying. God is not pleased with exaggeration. We do not need to have the biggest catch or the best deal or the most people saved. God says
1 Corinthians 4:2
“2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
The born again Christian is supposed to live to serve and glorify God. Exaggeration certainly does not serve God nor does it glorify God. Our words and our meditation need to be acceptable to God.
Boasting is another sin we need to guard against. I Kings 20 tells us of Benhadad, the king of Syria. He was having some success in battle and had his sights set on conquering the northern tribes of Israel. He had convinced 32 kings and their armies to gather themselves together for an attack against Israel. His first tactic was to demand all of Israel’s wealth. When the king of Israel foolishly agreed to this demand, Benhadad came with a further demand. King Benhadad would send his servants into the land of Israel and anything they saw that was precious to them they would take. King Ahab was not ready to bow this far and warned the king of Syria not to boast of his power. King Benhadad became enraged by this taunt and set his armies in order ready for an attack. God sent a prophet to king Ahab and assured him that he would win the battle against this massive army. King Benhadad was a foolish king who chose to get drunk together with the other 32 kings that were with him. The king of Israel came out to attack this army and because they were ill prepared and over confident, God gave the king of Israel the victory in this battle. The king of Syria and his armies thought they were powerful. However, man is nothing against almighty God. Boasting is sin and it is not something that a Christian should do. The Christian should understand that all that he has is from the Lord. We need to praise Him and glorify Him, not seek to draw attention to ourselves.