Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness

Robert J. Matthews had this to say about bearing false witness

"Our obedience to the commandment not to bear false witness should be rooted in both our love of God and our love of our fellowmen. But the violation of the ninth commandment is among the most common of sins.

Elder Adam S. Bennion of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote:

“Murder, adultery, and stealing, dealing respectively with life, virtue, and property, are generally considered more serious offenses before the law than the bearing of false witness. And yet, what the latter may lack in severity, it more than makes up for in prevalence” (“The Ninth Commandment,” in The Ten Commandments Today, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955, p. 134).

Whereas murder involves the taking of human life, bearing false witness involves the destruction of character and reputation. To do so maliciously is the sin of calumny, or character assassination, described in Shakespeare’s Othello:

Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
(Act 3, sc. 3, lines 157–61)..."

Thus, the ninth commandment is a strong declaration against covenant breaking, oath breaking, and all forms of untruth, including exaggeration, gross understatement, fabrication, or the willful giving of any explanation not supported by the facts. Even sharing the truth can have the effect of lying when we tell only half-truths that do not give a full picture. We can also be guilty of bearing false witness and lying if we say nothing, particularly if we allow another to reach a wrong conclusion while we hold back information that would have led to a more accurate perception. In this case it is as though an actual lie were uttered...

Lying and misrepresentation in all of their forms are wrong, no matter how they may be rationalized, and those who silently let these evils pass unchallenged are also doing wrong...

The seriousness of lying is not measured only in injury or pain inflicted on the one deceived. Lying has a devastating effect also on the perpetrator. It robs the liar of self-respect, and deadens his ability to recognize the difference between truth and error.

Furthermore, one who lies may also likely steal; someone who has little regard for the integrity of truth will probably have little regard for property rights. One sin leads to another. The Lord has said that unrepentant liars—“whosoever loveth and maketh a lie” (Rev. 22:15)—shall spend time in hell, and eventually be assigned to the telestial kingdom for eternity (see Rev. 21:8; 2 Ne. 9:34; D&C 42:21; D&C 63:17; D&C 76:103). "

And that is where the talk ends and I say AMEN! The problem with not living one or two of the commandments as he said is they usually lead to each other.

AND

Usually sin is addictive. That's how Satan gets you in his trap, just letting in one little sin, that then starts snowballing until you can't stop lying or stealing or cheating. Sadly I know some people like that, where their whole life is tangled up in a web of lies and they stop even knowing the difference between truth and fabrication. If you notice yourself gossiping here, or just telling small lies there, work to put an end to it IMMEDIATELY!!!! So you don't start down that slippery slope of sin.