“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. (Exodus 23:1 ESV)
I’ve mentioned before that I am not a lover of shopping. I have to be in the mood and in a shop with great deals, or forget about it.
So when my blow dryer died I groaned, not just because I was going to be walking into the office with wet hair, but also because it meant I had to venture inside a store. Or did I?
Firing up my laptop, I searched a popular online shopping site for a medium priced hair dryer with good reviews. It was late and I was tired. When I saw one in my price range with four and a half stars, I clicked ‘buy’ and turned out the lights.
The next day I had a vague memory of my late night clicking and thought I should do a bit more investigation. Less than five minutes later, I realized the item I had purchased was laced with five star reviews from people who had received the item for free in exchange for a review.
So much for trusting strangers! I looked online and found that this was not a good appliance. I had been duped by the many raving but paid for reviews. Thank goodness it hadn’t been shipped and I could cancel my order!
I can’t imagine selling my integrity for the price of a blow dryer, which is exactly what these people had done. The ‘true’ purchasers gave one star reviews and included awful stories of melting plastic smells and even sparks when it was turned on. Mercy! That’s just plain dangerous! People – and my hair – could get hurt by the false testimony of the five star writers.
Ladies, we need to be sure that when we are giving opinions or speaking to others that we are always measuring our words carefully and that they are dispersed in truth. It’s so easy to say something offhand that is oh-so-slightly damaging and before we know it, we have ended up setting someone’s whole life aflame. What takes a mere second to leave our lips could result in a lifetime of hurt to another.
Father, forgive us for compromising and saying things that would hurt others. Oh how we hate it when we fall into gossip. Help us to turn conversations into opportunities to encourage others and not to bring down our sisters. In Your name, Amen!
