A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will perish. Proverbs 19:9

This is very similar to 19:5 which states “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free.”

Lying to ruin someone’s reputation is serious stuff in God’s eyes. We joke at the lies that politicians tell about each other in order to make them feel good about themselves (or to make a point). Instead we should be dressing down those politicians.

In the last part of the verse we see that “in the end” all the lies will be found out and the person punished. It’s another general theme throughout the Bible: essentially, your sin will find you out.

Take time today to ask God to help you. We have plenty of opportunities throughout the day to “bear false witness” against even our best of friends through gossip or idle talk. Pray that God will remind you when the time comes.