Actually, as unkind as it may seem, I do pray that lying lips with be mute and I ask that those who speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt would be silent. i ask this knowing that it might, sometimes, shut me up. I may be the guy whose pride and contempt color the truth so that it becomes a lie. It might even be someone, whose opinion I agree with, in principle, but whose methods or attitudes are, at least for the moment, deceitful.
I pray this in love – love for the truth, love for God, love for hearers, love for my communities and, even so, love for those whose lips are co-opted by the spirit of deceit.
I cannot refute every untruth, half-truth, and partial truth. I cannot dismantle every system of institutionalized lies and every narrative of hate, bitterness, and ignorance.
I want to, but I cannot. I cannot keep up with it. I can only do my tiny part. I can only contribute a piece of me — fearfully and carefully lest I enter into the same trap of slander and contempt.
I can pray, speak truth, pray, live truth, pray, and long for truth and the God of truth will always prevail.
We shall often be misunderstood, misjudged, and mistreated by the characterization of our honesty as something other than what it is, but in the end, truth always prevails.
Pastor Tom's Community 
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