Lies
I will be completely honest here. I do lie. It is something I have been working on, and am getting better. However, the conviction has come upon me, and I have confessed my sin. I am repenting of my lies. I have asked God to show me of anyone I need to apologize to for lying to them, if there is anyone I have hurt in my lies. Psalm 15:2 says:
Whoever lives a blameless life,
does what is right,
and speaks honestly (NET)
These are the people who will “live on the holy hill”. The ones who are righteous. The kind of person that God wants us to be. He wants those that speak honestly. No lies.
Lies come in many forms. There is the little white lie and the lie of omission (this one is particularly tough for me). Both of these lies seem harmless when they are told. The thing is lying is a sin. It is one of the 10 commandments. Exodus 20:16 speaks plainly. “You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor.” (AMP) It does not matter if it is a “little white lie” or a major lie, they are both equally wrong in God’s eyes. A little sin is still sin. All sin offends God.
From this morning on, I am making an effort to stop the lies. I will not tell them anymore. Not even the little white ones to save face. HOWEVER, if I cannot say anything good, without lying, I will say nothing at all. It is better to remain silent, and not lie, than to tell the truth and hurt others. Case in point:
The other day, I saw a friend of mine. She had colored their hair. The color was not really becoming of her. She was very excited about the change. She needed change. I have been there myself. I have needed a change, made the wrong one and thought it was great. I could empathize with her. What would have been the best course of action? Tell her you like it and it looks great? Tell her it is certainly different? Or keep your mouth shut. Well, in this case she asked me what I thought. If she would not have asked, I would have said nothing. But since she asked, I had no choice. I said, “You needed a change in your life and you found one you are happy with.” I did not tell her that I did not like it. I spared her feelings and did not offend God by lying to my friend. I am sure, if I would have had time to think about it, I would have come up with something more uplifting. But I had to think fast.
Thinking fast is where I usually get into trouble. It is where I usually say the wrong things to spare the other persons feelings. I need God’s wisdom to be able to handle those situations better. I do not want to hurt feelings of my friends but I do not want to hurt God by telling a little white lie, either.
Father, please help me to honor You, and give me Your wisdom to respond in ways that are not hurtful, but are not filled with little white lies.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Wow Melissa!
Sounds like we are a lot alike. Have the same problem areas as well. I’ll join in that with you too. I need to do the same thing as well. Gods been likewise convicting me from that as well as the gossip and anger. Maybe we can work through it together.
I’m not sure what to do but maybe we can give one another a boost and be accountability partners in this area as well. Thanks for posting this Melissa.
you find to or at least me that you lie about dumb stuff that you have no reason to lie about. This is something I struggle with as well. feel free to e-mail me and we can help one another with these areas.
June 20th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Amen to that! I like to think I am this n=honest person, but in all reality I would have told your friend she looked great, and in all reality that is a lie. I think you handled the situation very well!
June 20th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Discretion is a must…of coruse you wouldn’t say her hair was terrible, but discretion comes into play there. You did well.
Interesting that we both wrote about lies…..
June 20th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Thank you for this great reminder to speak truthfully! My daughter is just starting to “try out” lying. (She is 3 and a half.) And we are calling her to the Cross and reminding her of the gospel (and the law) and memorizing Scripture, etc.
I truly appreciate your ministry and reminder!
God bless you and yours,
Tara B.
June 20th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I am glad that you all enjoyed this devotional, and it was meaningful to you.
Becki, I wrote this one the same day I wrote the one on gossip, but I had not posted it until I was sure it was time.
It is funny that we both posted about it.
I appreciate the encouragement that I handled my situation well.
Thank you!