7 Things God Hates – Lying (#2)

God hates lying.

God hates a lying tongue.

We know this from the book of Proverbs. In this book, Solomon writes about wisdom, prudence, understanding, and how to live. He specifically mentions six things God hates, actually seven that are detestable to Him.

As a child and even as I grew older, I assumed those things were not something of which a Christian could be guilty. For God hates sin, and those of us who belong to Him could not possibly be guilty of doing or being something He hates! Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Recently, I decided to take a close look at all seven of these things. I’ve read this scripture every year for the past dozen years, but I’ve never dug deep under the soil of these verses to find what is hidden there. Join me on this seven-week journey to learn more about the things God hates – and why.

Lying is wrong

God hates lying. He said so, and there are many verses in the Bible that explain this.. We should hate it, too. We should hate it when we lie and when others lie. The problem is that we can always find a way around lying.

It’s just a white lie, or It doesn’t hurt anybody, or Nobody needs to know, or Not that big a deal, or I was only trying to help, or I didn’t want people to think badly of me, or I was just trying to protect my reputation, or I had my fingers crossed when I said it.

None of those reasons are a justification to lie, because lying is wrong. Lying is sin. God hates lying. We ought to know, because God is a truthful God. Why would He want to have any part with lying?

As Christians, most of us would not choose to tell an outright lie, especially when those in our company know it’s a lie. Yet, sometimes we lie without flashing a warning that what we’re saying is not the complete truth.

How we lie.

Here are some ways we lie.

• Embellishing. While a lot of what we say is stretched, the core of it is full of truth. We just add a little to it to make certain the other party looks worse and we look better.
• Telling part of the truth. We use a shred of truth to champion our cause. We tell the truth in such a way that, while we don’t deliver any falsehoods, the way we choose to tell it presents a different picture than what really happened.
• Leaving out part of the truth. This is twisting the truth. It’s still a lie when we deliberately choose to leave out parts of what happened to change reality. This is a way we portray ourselves as an innocent party and someone else as the guilty party. Teenagers are particularly adept in selecting the information they give their parents. For example, by deliberately leaving out part of the truth, they may seek to gain permission to go somewhere their parents never intend for them to go.
• Acting like we aren’t aware of something when are. When we feign ignorance deliberately to enable us to be permitted to do something, we are lying.  It’s true that knowledge of something does not require us to share everything we know. Yet, when we deliberately portray innocence in order to enable us to have or do something, it’s a lie.
• Deliberately telling a falsehood or untruth. Blatant lies are the result of our choice to deliberately lie. God hates it.

Breaking the habit

This might seem as easy as ABC. It is. The challenge is  to do the ABC. Stop making excuses and do what needs to be done.

Admit that you lied. Accept the fact that lying is sin and God hates it.

Believe that lying is sin because God says so.  If you don’t believe it is wrong, then it will be easy to keep on telling lies. 

Confess your lies. Make it right with others. When you tell more lies, go back and confess your sin to those affected. Knowing you will need to confess is one of the best ways to stay on track.

Decide that you will deliberately start telling the truth. When you’re tempted to embellish, remember that it’s still a lie. When you think about only telling half the truth, remind yourself that it’s still a lie.

When a habit is deeply imbedded in us, it is not easy to break. When Satan has a hold on us in this area, he will do whatever he can to keep us from breaking that cycle. Be alert, be aware, and stay the course. You might lose a battle, but you can still win the war.

 

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