Were someone to approach you...
Were someone to approach you, saying, "I hear that you are no longer a thief," you would be taken aback (assuming you have never been a thief and are not now a thief). The statement is true in its suggestion that you are not presently a thief, but it is completely false in its suggestion that you were once a thief. If you were never a thief, however, you could not "stop" being a thief since you have always been honest. But the statement at least suggests a "reform" of some sort that you have never had to go through, and that casts a shadow on your character that should not be there.
