What should you do if you were talking to someone and you think you might have said something or explained something wrong? Couldn’t this be considered lying even if you didn’t purposely do it? And wouldn’t that mean that you should explain it better so you tell the truth? I think I get at least kind of obsessed with some stuff like this, where I think I might have done or said something wrong, and then I feel that I have to explain it more and more elaborately or something like that. This at least gets annoying and stressful to me, but I know you’re not supposed to lie, so I feel I have to explain to them or whatever, and I also want them to understand. But then I think I am also sometimes told I should not worry about it, and I should let it go and not be stressed over it. God understands everything, and He knows exactly what happens, and that is all that matters.<\/p>\n\t
To tell the best that you know at the moment is not lying. There is no deception or intent at deceiving.<\/p>\n
When you aren’t certain about a fact, it is proper to relay your uncertainty. “I think Mrs. Jones was wearing a blue sweater this morning.”<\/p>\n
If you realize at a later point that you were wrong, you need to determine who important the information was to the person. If it was a casual conversation that was most likely forgotten, then you let it go as well. Even if it was brought up again later, you just say, “Yeah, I learned later that I was wrong.” If it was something a person was relying upon, then you tell them, “I just found out that I was wrong about what I told you earlier. I didn’t want you to make a mistake because of me.”<\/p>\n
What I suspect is happening is that you are worrying over details. It isn’t enough to mention the blue sweater, you feel the need to describe the exact shade of blue. That is obsessing over the precision of your information. Most people are not looking for absolute precision in conversation. If we did, nothing would get accomplished because there is always more detail that could be given. For example, notice that in the Gospel accounts, none of the writers mention all the same details given by the other writers. In fact, John states that he left out a lot. “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen<\/em>” (John 21:25). That doesn’t mean John lied. It means he focused on his point and didn’t allow himself to get distracted.<\/p>\n It is very easy for teenagers to get obsessed with different things. It is partly due to how the brain develops during the adolescent years. But what you should remind yourself is that no one, even God, is expecting absolute perfection from you. You do the best you can and when you realize you made a mistake, you acknowledge it. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God<\/em>” (Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. We strive to do our best and realize that we don’t achieve perfection.<\/p>\n Also, don’t judge the accuracy of what you are saying by the understanding another person takes away with them. A lot of people don’t listen well. Many people only hear what they expect to be told. If you said something correctly and another person misunderstood, that wasn’t necessarily your fault.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: What should you do if you were talking to someone and you think you might have said something or explained something wrong? Couldn’t this be considered lying even if you didn’t purposely do it? And wouldn’t that mean that you should explain it better so you tell the truth? I think I get at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1283,392,508,1185,965],"class_list":["post-31056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-compulsiveness","tag-lying","tag-mental-illness","tag-obsessions","tag-ocd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-i-say-when-i-hear-someone-give-bad-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":0},"title":"What should I say when I hear someone give bad advice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Jeffrey, What is the balance between expecting the world to just act like the world and take a stand? Like I know a guy who claims to be a Christian. He was giving advice about going through divorce to someone else and he said \"getting a rebound chick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-daughter-lies-but-eventually-tells-the-truth-under-pressure\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":1},"title":"My daughter lies but eventually tells the truth under pressure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a child lies about something but eventually tells the truth under pressure, should she be punished for not telling the truth in the first place, or will that just encourage her to persist in the lie the next time?\u00a0 It seems to me we should be teaching them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-have-said-something-when-i-saw-my-sister-and-her-boyfriend-laying-on-her-bed\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":2},"title":"Should I have said something when I saw my sister and her boyfriend laying on her bed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My sister was in her room with her boyfriend, laying on her bed. I accidentally saw them when I let the dog into the room. I think I made a mistake by closing the door again. Should I say something, or is this okay? I feel like even though\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44503,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cussing-and-cursing\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":3},"title":"Cussing and Cursing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall \"Words are just words.\" A friend who was a new Christian had just fired off an \"F-bomb\" while we were playing golf. When I suggested such language should not be used, he got angry and said, \"Words are just words. I don't mean anything by them.\" Well,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-feel-guilty-that-i-didnt-tell-my-boyfriend-that-a-year-ago-i-kissed-my-ex-boyfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":4},"title":"I feel guilty that I didn’t tell my boyfriend that a year ago I kissed my ex-boyfriend","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been together with my current boyfriend for two years now. During our first six months together, there was one night I was out drinking with some friends when my ex, by surprise, was also there at the same place, and he sat at our table. We got\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10905,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-attend-my-girlfriends-church-if-i-think-it-teaches-false-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":31056,"position":5},"title":"Should I attend my girlfriend’s church if I think it teaches false doctrine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm going to see my girlfriend and I'm kind of in a bad predicament because she wants me to go to worship service with her on Sunday, but she is Pentecostal and they teach false doctrine.\u00a0 Is it ok for me to go so I can show her what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}