Led Astray by Lies
HAVE you ever tried to minimize the guilt of telling a lie with the attitude, “Of course I lied. Doesn’t everybody? What’s the big deal?” Part of the “big deal” is that if you assume you’re joining the crowd by using deception, then who can you trust ultimately? How can you ever be sure that you are hearing the truth from anyone? Maybe everyone else has taken the same attitude you have: “Everyone lies. What’s the big deal?”
Amos warned the people of his day that lies would always lead them astray; deception would always cause trouble. In fact, they were already in trouble largely because they followed the lies of their fathers (Amos 2:4). The prophet’s statement and the history of Israel show that generations can suffer tragically from patterns of deception.
Yet people try many ways to deceive themselves about the true nature of lying. For example, we use euphemisms such as “shading the truth,” “telling a little white lie,” or “skirting the issue.” We also try to justify lying by suggesting that it is normal, and even inevitable, as if sooner or later we have to lie. But the worst tragedy about this way of living may be that we end up telling lies and believing lies about God (Romans 1:25), and about ourselves (1 John 1:10).
Lying is not an inescapable fact of human nature. God does not lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2), and He tells us not to lie in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:16). Likewise, Paul exhorted believers not to lie to one another (Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9). So it is possible to speak and live with honesty. But it is self-defeating to practice deception. In the long run, there is no integrity in the habit, and sooner or later one begins to distrust everyone—including oneself.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 