A little less than a year ago, somebody lied quite stupidly and it got me thinking about the reasons why people lie.
Myth mania (or mythomania, US)
Myth maniacs (mythomaniacs) cannot help lying; but their problem is spiritual:they are under the control of a lying spirit which makes them lie. There is fortunately not that many of them. Their only cure is deliverance.
Ignorance
“Every truth is not good to say.” ‘‘I didn’t want to hurt him…’’ Many people think there are pious, white, small and big lies. They don’t realise that from God’s point of view, a lie is a lie, no matter what they cloth it with. It’s a bit like cancer: as soon as you have a cancerous cell in you, you don’t know it but devastation has already begun. And those with the smallest external appearance like melanoma are often the most dangerous.
Continuing with this analogy, it’s when the cancer (lie) is still very small that we have to deal with it in the most aggressive way (surgery, chemo and radiotherapy) to prevent it from spreading and killing the patient. Furthermore, prevention is the key (smoking, sun exposure…); likewise, lying can be prevented if parents would realize that they are usually the first to teach their children how to become professional liars: “Say that I am not there.” Whereas we are in the room...
“If you don’t do this, I’ll do that to you…” And we don’t do anything thing because we didn’t really mean it in the first place...
“No, it’s not bitter; it’s very nice, you’ll see. Open your mouth…” And then we pour in some Nivaquin®!
The funniest thing is that these same parents are usually very offended when their child starts serving them the same kind of lies: “What are you taking me for? An idiot?”
Immaturity
Most liars fall into this category. They lie out of fear, the fear to face the consequences of their actions. They are running away from their responsibilities: ‘‘I don’t want them to have a bad opinion of me’’; ‘‘I was afraid that they would do this or that to me…’’ However, whatever our age may be, when we lie and refuse to take our responsibilities, it only shows undoubtedly that we are still a child because it’s only kids who are afraid of the rod. And many of us remain ‘eternal’ babies… Let’s look at two biblical characters:
Rahab (read Joshua 2): She hid the Israelites spies on her roof; but when the king’s envoys came to ask her to bring them out, she said: “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went.” This is a perfect example of a ‘pious’ lie. She was not Jew; today, one will say she wasn’t a Christian. She didn’t know that it was bad to lie and God, who overlooks the times of ignorance, forgave her: He spared her during the destruction of Jericho and she is later found in the Lord’s genealogy; meaning that after following the Israelites, she must have adopted their faith and changed her life. Things are entirely different when it comes to God’s people, those who have already known the truth, as we’ll see with the second example.
Abraham: Running away from famine, he went down to Egypt and told his wife: "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake." Many years later, he did it again. He settled in Guerar and introduced Sarah as his sister – which wasn’t false by the way (Gen 20:12). However, this ‘half-truth’ would have terrible consequences. Indeed, thinking she was free, Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife and the Bible tells that the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Similarly, Abimelech, king of Guerar also took her and was nearly killed by God, because she already belonged to someone else. When Abimelech enquired about the reason for that deception, this is what Abraham replied: "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'" He lied because he was afraid to be killed. You can read the details of these stories in Genesis 12 and 20.
There is no such thing as a small, a half or a pious lie when you are Christian. Jesus said that the devil is a liar and the father of lies and whoever lies only does what his/her father the devil does (Jn 8:41,44). If you say that your little lies have nothing to do with the devil, then you are actually saying that Jesus is wrong and you are right; but the Bible teaches us that in situations like these, God should always be true and every man a liar... So, the devil is the instigator of ALL our lies; and since his only mission is to steal, kill and destroy, this means that no lie is ever as trivial and insignificant as we may think. Abraham’s ‘half-lie’ or ‘half-truth’ almost destroyed two nations. Let’s not forget it.
“…The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:23-24)
Read or re-read “the power of vision”: http://www.lifeflowingpen.com/2011/10/power-of-vision.html
God bless you and give you the courage to live in light and in truth.
Enjoy your week!
So true.
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