[Steve Myers] There's a new research study that is just out from the University of Notre Dame. I ran across an interesting article that talked about the "science of honesty" - that's the name of the study. So, can you imagine that? The science of honesty. And so it involves lying, imagine this. Here's what the researchers found at Notre Dame. They found that when people manage to reduce their lies - this is over a 10 week period - they reported significantly improved physical and mental health in those same weeks. So they found there's a direct correlation between not telling lies and feeling better. And it's an interesting study when you begin to look at the details of this and the effects of lying on our mental and physical health. There is a connection.

[Darris McNeely] And that shouldn't be surprising to us because lying is certainly something forbidden by one of God's Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-22), "Thou shalt not lie" (Exodus 20: 16 and Dueteronomy 5:20). He put that in there as a very important spiritual principle. And all of God's law has certain physical connections to our well-being as well as certainly our spiritual relationship with God. So, from a scriptural perspective, that shouldn't be surprising.

[Steve Myers] Absolutely, when you look at what the researchers said, one of the authors of the study said, "We found that the participants could purposefully and dramatically reduce their everyday lies." Now that was encouraging just to read that because sometimes you think you get in this trap and I can't change, I can't grow, I can't behave that way. And yet these researchers found they could reduce their lies. It was possible. And then they also said, "In turn, that was associated with significantly improved health." And so there is a connection to doing what's right and feeling better. And that's a dramatic thing.

[Darris McNeely] Anyone who tells a lie and knows they are lying and then has to tell another lie to cover up that lie, sets in motion a cycle of behaviors and attitudes and inner conflict a lot of times, which is what this particular study is really getting to, that does impact the mind, the sense of self, and will have some detrimental impacts on peoples' health.

[Steve Myers] Yeah, that was one of the things they mentioned here that when they lied less, they found this in the study, the people had feelings of tenseness or melancholy evaporate. They went away.

[Darris McNeely] It's called having a clean conscience, a clear conscience.

[Steve Myers] Yeah, have a clean conscience and then the result of having that clean conscience, it said they experienced less sore throats, headaches, as well. And so you see that direct correlation between those and it's interesting the study brought that out.

[Darris McNeely] Proverbs 17:22, I think is one very key thought here that says, "A merry heart does good like medicine, and a broken spirit dries the bones." Lies can be like that broken spirit that just shrivels us up in our conscience, creating all kinds of problems. But a merry heart does good. And having a clear conscience, no fears, no regrets, no concern that we might be found out or caught in that lie that we tell is like a tonic, a medicine that clears our minds and our whole well-being as this scripture, or this study shows.

[Steve Myers] Well, no wonder Christ reiterated the fact that we should not bear false witness because it does us good to tell the truth. One of the interesting things as this study concluded in what it reported about, they posed the question, "Is it difficult to keep from lying in day to day interaction?" And you would think in everyday life that'd be pretty tough. But what they found is that the participants in the study realized they could simply tell the truth about their daily accomplishments. So it was possible not to lie. They said, "Rather than exaggerate," so here we're not talking about gigantic, terrible lies, but we're talking about simple lies that people can get caught up into, just in everyday life. They said, "Rather than exaggerate, they said they stopped making false excuses for being late or failing to complete a task." So even those most simple things, if we do what's right in the little things, we're going to experience good things as a result. And that's a godly principle.

[Darris McNeely] This adds another dimension to what Christ said when He said that the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32). You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Certainly He was talking about spiritual truths, doctrinal truths from the Bible, but the truth as just a way of life and speaking truth to people makes us free of guilt, fear, and all of these debilitating problems that can lead to even physical ailments.

[Steve Myers] That's right. So let's make it our goal to tell the truth, even in the smallest of things. You'll feel better mentally, physically, and most importantly spiritually as well.

[Darris McNeely] That's BT Daily. Join us next time.