Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Ephesians 4:25

Paul emphasizes what all of us believers already know or should know – that followers of Jesus must always speak the truth no matter what.  We are not isolated individuals and speak as such, but as members of Christ’s body, undivided.  What we speak is the united voice of believers.

Were falsehood to enter the conversation, all unity would be broken and the enemy would have a victory.  Put off falsehood, Paul advises, and speak truthfully to your neighbor.  That is a tall order, to be sure.  We come short too often, but we know we should speak the truth.

If I speak a falsehood, I not only offend another person, but I condemn myself by doing so because born again people put their lips under the control of the Holy Spirit who always presses for unity and truth.

The standard of behavior in the household of God is impossible to uphold unless the Holy Spirit has control of us, one and all.