Ten Words: "Do Not Give False Testimony" - Exodus 20:16

Speaker: Praise Kim 

Discussion Questions: 

1. Every one of us functions as a "witness" for the people around us through our words, our tone, and even our silence. In what relationships do you give that testimony generously right now, and where do you tend to withhold it?
​2. Pastor Praise described watching a man he'd genuinely trusted disappear with the food, and then a crowd condemn him without ever asking a real question because the accuser had more standing with the group than he did. What did that story teach you about how easily a community's trust can substitute for actual truth? Where have you seen that same dynamic play out?
3. Pastor Praise argued that the Ninth Commandment was not just a "do not lie" as a flat rule. It’s also  an identity question underneath a behavior: "What kind of witness am I becoming?" How does that reframing change the way you think about a command you may have always assumed was fairly easy to keep?
4. Deuteronomy 19 applies the same penalty to a false witness that would have fallen on the person they falsely accused, meaning God's law treated speech with the same weight as physical harm. Why do you think Scripture takes words this seriously? Does our culture actually treat words that way, or do we tend to think of them as "just words”?
5. Pastor Praise said, "Words don't just describe reality; they create it." Have you ever watched someone's words actually shape how a person saw themselves, for better or worse? What makes it hard to speak life over someone in the exact moment your own insecurity is the thing getting triggered?
6. In the gym story, Praise was one sentence away from bearing false witness about Paul Cho’s own ability, in order to protect his own reputation  and chose instead to spot him and champion him. Has someone else's success ever felt like a threat to you? What did you actually do with that moment, and what would it have looked like to do champion them instead?
7. Some of us recognize ourselves as the one who has minimized or misrepresented someone else. Others recognize themselves on the receiving end of it (talked about, misjudged, falsely accused). Which one is more true of you this season, and what would it look like to bring that honestly to God?
8. Pastor Praise closed with, "Champion one another with your words"  including speaking life over the people who've actually hurt you. What would it look like for our group to practice this together, not just as an individual habit but as a group culture - Not merely avoiding gossip, but actively naming what is true and declaring God’s original design over one another, especially toward the people it’s hardest to speak life over?