Have you ever told a lie? Maybe it was only a white lie…but it was still a lie.
Have you ever been dishonest with yourself? Sometimes, the hardest person to fess up to is the reflection in the mirror.
Well, it might seem easier to stay in the darkness of a lie and hide in it. But when you hide in the lie, it eats away at you. It degrades your integrity. And you may even tell yourself it’s okay to tell a lie to cover up the first lie. And boy does that become a mess real quick!
I think our society has gotten really good at being dishonest. Just watch one of your children’s favorite Disney or Nickelodeon TV shows. The parents are telling white lies to the kids and the kids are fibbing right back to their parents. It’s a cesspool of lies and dishonesty that is supposed to seem funny. It’s not!
So what does that teach our kids? It’s okay to lie to get what you want or to make things easier on yourself.
What do lies do? They keep you down. They hold you back from the real you. They hold you back from God’s purpose in your life.
Lies create chains!
And more often than not, we lie to ourselves more than we lie to others. Not being true to yourself is just another way that Satan uses his yoke of control.
But, that’s NOT what God’s word teaches us. God teaches us that freedom resides in Him and in the truth.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NIV).
What an amazing feeling of freedom it is when the TRUTH comes out.
When I was teaching high school, I sometimes came across situations where I knew students were being dishonest about the work they turned in. They had either cheated, plagiarized or let someone else do their work for them (ahem…parents). I always gave students the option to be honest with me first before I laid out the consequence. If they fessed up, the consequence was much lighter and a deeper student/teacher bond resulted from the experience. If they didn’t speak the truth, the consequence always turned out much worse for the student when they had to attend honor court and let their peers decide the consequence for them.
I believe that God works in this way too. If we seek the truth, we find mercy and forgiveness there.
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13 ESV).
If you are stuck in a lie today, let honesty set you free.
Will you share a time with us when you were afraid to tell the truth, but you chose honesty anyway? What was that experience like?
Be Blessed!
AllisonD
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