Liar Liar, Pants on Fire

We all used to say that as kids. Well, not me, because my mom didn’t let us use the word ‘Liar”. We had to call everyone “story tellers” or “fibbers”, or simply say, “Jim Bob is not telling the truth.” Only recently (and I am an adult), have I begun to use the word, “Liar”. Somedays, it still feels very foreign to use the word. I often say, “that’s not true” or I simply don’t address the liar. I let it go, and just keep my distance. People who lie cannot be trusted. Why would you ever hang around someone you can’t trust?

So what even is lying?

Lying: an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker or writer to be untrue with intent to deceive//to create a false or misleading impression

Merriam Webster

As you can see, lying encases two things: deceit/misleading and intent. When you intend to tell someone something that isn’t true, you are lying. When you deceive someone or mislead them, you are lying. And what does the Bible say about this:

Proverbs 10:18: Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.

YEUPPP. Lying and gossiping, spreading false witness makes you a fool. You are officially Boo-Boo the fool!

Intentions

So where is the intent coming from when we lie?

It comes from knowing the truth. You can only lie if you know the truth, any part of it. It doesn’t matter if you only know twenty percent of the story, but you choose to fill in the other eighty percent with exaggerations, and all kinds of stuff. You are lying. White lies are still lies. Spreading false information is lying. Why? Because you know the truth but intend not to tell it. You know the truth and have chosen to deceive your brethren.

Lying is a choice, and we always have the choice to do the righteous things. It’s why we have free will. We always have the choice not to lie, but we choose too because we want to, or whatever reason. But I can assure you, choosing to lie is never good. And here’s why:

Because choosing to lie is choosing to sin.

When you choose to sin, that means you choose to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Choosing to sin means you know it’s a sin. You know it’s wrong and you still do it. Your intent is to satisfy yourself and your flesh, not God. And the Bible gives us a clear picture of this behavior:

Hebrews 10:26-27: If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.

Closing

So, next time we are going to look at lying once more because God hates liars. He detests them! That’s such a strong feeling, and God, who loves all, has that feeling for those who lie. So we’ll look into why our loving Father hates liars.

Until then.