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February 19, 2017 |
| Why We Lie | ||
Lying is a constant difficulty for Christians and all people are far from perfect truth. But why do we lie? Or perhaps, why is it so easy for us to lie? Once we've told one lie why does it seem like another lie isn't far behind it and probably a bigger lie. In this lesson we'll look into lying.
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9)
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22)
We might answer:
There are three roots of all of these:
I think our prides are involved in most lies. If the lie didn't start from pride, it's pride that will step in to help us add more lies when the first one starts to unravel, in the hope that pride won't be damaged.
Those are certainly factors that cause us to think we must lie, and there are many more. But why do we choose to lie?
The short answer is "because we can." Not only do we have the God given ability to make that choice to lie but we are also able to tell a lie and have a hope that it will be believed. If everyone could see inside of us, there would be no way to lie. No lie could be successful and there would be no reason to lie.
Instead, people can only see the outer self, our body, while inside there is another self. Inside we know the truth but the words and actions of our body attempt to describe something that is not truth.
In fact this is the definition of lying, knowing the truth on the inside but presenting something different on the outside.
We know we can hide what's inside of us. Therefore, when the right cause comes along, we know we can resort to a lie. We also know that other people can hide what's inside of them. We've known these things almost from birth. Who remembers when they realized there was an inside world, an outside world, and the story could be different in each?
These may seem blindingly obvious and also a part of the nature of everyone. We can't even imagine it being any other way, but it wasn't always that way.
In the beginning Adam and Eve were not like that. It wouldn't have occurred to them to misrepresent the truth. Their outside world was no different from their inside world and each of them knew the other was the same way. It is beyond us to think how life could be lived so openly, so transparently, so nakedly.
Satan's task was not an easy one. He had to get Eve to think in a way that was against her nature. To do this he appealed to her desire for a new food experience, her love of pretty things, and her ego. It was enough to deceive her into looking away from the truth, who is God.
Many people don't realize it but she changed immediately. It becomes important to her to make sure she isn't the only one who has eaten the fruit. She can't deceive Adam into willingly eating the fruit so she tricks him. Paul says:
Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and violated the commandment (1 Timothy 2:14)
We don't know the details of how she tricked him but later Adam says "she gave me from the tree, and I ate". What he means is that he trusted her and didn't check what she gave him to eat. Eve had begun to hide things in herself that she wasn't revealing in order to gain a benefit.
Lying often seems to be the easiest way to go, but the truth is that lying is the hardest way. Producing a lie that will stand for any length of time is a difficult thing to do. As other witnesses come forward the lie starts to unravel. That leaves us with the choice of confessing, with all the awkwardness of that, or of improving the lie or replacing the lie.
Lying also results in a duplicitous mind. Lies require keeping track of which story was told to which person. Practicing that and becoming good at it will increase the likelihood of lying.
In most cases the lie eventually collapses into a stinking heap. Even if the liar doesn't confess, other people know about it and the liar's reputation is damaged.
It's odd then that lying would be such a natural choice for us, but it is the instinctive response. Often it is on us before we know it.
Why do we do it? Because, let's face it, we just can't seem to help ourselves. (Psychology Today)
Another reason we choose to lie is because lies are easier to get out of our mouths. A lie can be uttered with just a few words. The truth requires explanations and evidence.
Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it (Jonathan Swift)
The lie is almost certainly juicier and more interesting, so it travels quickly. That's also part of the problem with a lie. Many people hear it before it collapses in on the liar.
Is there ever a time where a lie is justified? If a life may be saved by a lie is it alright to lie?
The Bible never says there is ever a time when it is acceptable to lie. There are cases where someone lies and the Bible does not condemn them. God can work his will through anyone, even the most horrible people. God also knows the future and whether someone will lie and can use that to achieve his will. God could even do this as a test of a person. Thus we can't say lying is approved because of these cases.
No doubt, there is great value in the truth (John 8:32). As fallible, sinful human beings, our imperfect thoughts may not be able to comprehend what God has in mind, and we need to strive to trust God when He speaks on this subject, regardless how hard it may be. We need to place our faith fully in Christ and trust in God in all things - and not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) (Bodie Hodge - Answers In Genesis).
If God knows you won't lie, he will not build his plan to be dependent on you lying. Perhaps that will help you avoid being in that situation in the first place.
We lie so much, to so many people and so often that many times we don't realize we are lying.
We do it by:
We lie to others and we lie to ourselves ... as crazy as that might seem
A lie can start with something as simple as an accident or mistake. That embarrasses us so we look around to see if anyone was watching, then we cover up the evidence, or at least our association with the evidence.
For example, we might slip and fall, people do that sometimes. Our pride doesn't want us to be seen as foolish or helpless, so we quickly get up so no one will see what happened. Then we look around for a rock, or bump, or greasy spot that we can blame it on. Or perhaps we minimize it for all who did see, "oh, nothing," then we walk on as though our knees aren't screaming in pain.
Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." By "the truth" he meant that he was perfect truth, without a flaw, and the source of truth. By "the way" he meant that he was the path for us to follow. In other words we should strive to be like him. We should strive towards perfect truth.
At its foundation every sin is a lie, "It's OK". Therefore repentance is a return to the truth.
Do not fear but trust in God - the fear of the consequences of the truth is a primary cause of lying
Be content with what you have and where you are in life
Love others
Be quick to admit when you have done something wrong
Practice humility
Practice perfect truth