Ever told a lie to try and avoid hurting someone’s feelings? Ever exaggerated your story to make others think more of you? We may only be trying to spare someone’s feelings or make ourselves look better to others, but it’s still wrong. We can see this in the story of Ananias and Sapphira. When this couple tried to create a false impression about their giving, they dropped dead in the presence of the apostles. As a result, ‘No one else dared join them’ (Acts 5:13 NIV). Dying after lying isn’t something that we hear of these days. But that doesn’t mean we can do what we want. God knows everything we say, and He knows everything we think. ‘You know my thoughts before I think them…Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it’ (Psalm 139:2-4 NCV). Peter said, ‘You have not lied to men but to God’ (Acts 5:4 NIV). When we lie or exaggerate, we’re lying to God. Some of the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves, and end up believing. We think we’re not good enough, we’re failures, we can’t be used by God – these are all lies. When we look through the Bible, we see so many verses where God tells us who we are. We’re His children, He loves us, accepts us as we are and forgives us. He has plans for us, and will equip us to be able to do them. Whether we’re speaking to others, or to ourselves, our words should be full of truth. Solomon said, ‘My mouth speaks what is true…All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse’ (Proverbs 8:7-8 NIV). Can we say the same?

What Now?

If you have a problem telling the truth, pray, ‘Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.’