Are YOU an "Accidental Liar"?

Ever hear of, "Before you believe it....before you share it....before you promote it, see if it's true!"?

We live in a world that puts us in a position of being gullible.

Information is blasted at us in enormous doses daily.  Did you hear ________________?  Did you read _________________?  Did you see __________________?  So....we then pass it on by quickly hitting the "share" button or we blab it to the next person we see.  How many times do we read something and hit the "share" button without even attempting to find out if it is true?  Sadly, too often.  Often?  You may be asking me....often?  Yep....here is just one of many examples:

Not too long ago, I saw a meme with a child's picture on it frantically claiming that the child was missing encouraging everyone to "share" the meme with others so that they can share it with others so that they can share it in an attempt to find the child.  Here's the downside to not doing a little research prior to "sharing" the meme.  In about 2 minutes of research, I found out that the child indeed was missing at one time.  The child had been missing for a couple of hours and was found the very same day by parents.  Someone had created a meme and put out on their FB page and it was shared like wildfire within minutes.  This meme though is still floating around months later as others are frantically sharing the meme and praying asking God to protect this child and bring the child home.  So, thousands and thousands of kind-loving-sweet-nice people are out in FB land sharing the meme in an attempt to help bring this child home who has been home for months and months.

So.....how do we as intelligent people stop sharing bad--outdated--inaccurate information?

Here is what I'm going to do.  I'm going to make a commitment that prior to hitting the "share" button (or even the old fashioned way--"Face-to-face"), I'm going to see if what I'm about to share is even true.   You'd be amazed to know how many stories floating around are simply NOT true.

So, when you share a story that is not true, are you lying?  I'm going to say--no.  Lying is intentionally telling something that you know is not true.  I realize that most people aren't cold hearted liars just looking for the next tall tale to tell.  But, here is why I feel it is important to be accurate.

CREDIBILITY

When you talk about, post, share, forward "stuff" that is not true, it impairs your credibility.  People WANT to trust you.  People WANT to know that when you say, share, promote something that you are indeed telling the truth.  You may want to share something that you honestly believe is true, but if you've never even made a single attempt to verify whether or not it is "truth", then you may want to consider waiting to share it.

People will trust you when they know that you are credible.

The Lord wants us to be people that others can trust.  It's important that our character and credibility isn't tarnished by slothfully sharing stories.  Let's try out best to be a shining example of truth.  I'll try if you will.