Plagiarism · 10 February 2018
I hope God does not mind, but I do not always give my source when I quote the Bible. It is not that I am choosing to do what is expedient. It is that I want to speak truth into people’s lives without getting into too much trouble.
Okay. So it is not necessarily true that I do not want to get into trouble for my faith. The thing is that I just want to speak truth into people’s lives, and some people just do not want to accept those truths when they know the source. For instance, one of my sons quoted, “Ask and ye shall receive.” I noted that he quoted scripture. He said that it is just a saying. I just left it at that. No use arguing. We both know the truth whether he wants to admit it or not.
I probably need to do it more. Quote scripture, that is. There are times when it fits the conversation. Times when it is necessary to stop a conversation. Times when the truth needs to be spoken. And many of those times, the people do not necessarily need to know where the truth came from. It is obvious that I was not the originator. But people do not always need to know that I am just quoting Jesus. Even though it is usually obvious.
I do like to cite my sources when I write. (My son quoted Matthew 7:7, even if he said it was just a meme.) But I do not feel it necessary when I speak. I am sure not many people do. After all, most of the original good ideas have already been taken anyway. But I am not trying to steal the Lord’s thunder. Instead, I am just trying to spread the word a little at a time. Sowing seeds, so to speak. I know that some of those seeds will fall by the wayside, but some might fall on fallow soil. Some might grow right away and some might take some time to grow. (Parable in Matthew 13) But hopefully, the truth sinks in. Hopefully, people realize that I am not trying to take credit for truthful and powerful words. Hopefully, people realize that God loves you and so do I. (Which is a greeting, not a quote.)
At any rate, if you hear me quoting the Bible without giving the source, realize that I am just trying to speak truth into people’s lives. I just hope God does not think it a sleight that I do not always give Him credit. I hope He realizes that I am not plagiarizing, I am just planting seeds of hope when I quote His word. Whether I give Him credit or not.
© 2018 Michael T. Miyoshi
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