Children will lie at one time or another. The question is not if they will, but whether or not lying will become something they believe they can get away with. If we don't teach our children what God says about lying, they won't know why it's wrong. If we don't pray about this issue now, there will be bigger issues to deal with later. (Power of a Praying Parent, Stormie Omartian)
I have a cd by a Gospel rap group called R.O.A.R and in one of their songs there's a line that says something like, "in order for a person to lie, they had to have first known the truth". As I tend to be a very analytical person; that statement has stuck with me for years...even helping me with forgiveness where a lie is concerned. A lie is "a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. Synonyms: prevarication, falsification. Antonyms: truth." Deceit is "the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating". It's crucial and critical for us to know the truth, live the truth and teach our children the importance of truth. I've always told my children to tell me the truth, regardless of whether they think the truth will hurt me and no matter what they think the consequences are because telling the truth will help them in the long run; they've even avoided punishment simply by telling the truth (that may be the subject of another post). The point being that when we tell the truth; we don't have to remember or rehearse it! The truth was the truth yesterday; is the truth today and will be the truth tomorrow.
Telling lies and even worse, believing lies, can definitely lead to bigger issues. The bible is clear about both the truth and lies. Proverbs 12:19 says, "The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment"; "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight" and John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). As for lies...John 8:44 says, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
The real danger in letting lies go unchecked is that we risk God's delight in us and our life in Him, while consequently becoming entangled in the devil's web. No matter how it looks; the truth (topped with love), is always best!
Lord, help us to always embrace and exhibit the truth in our lives and for our children. Show us how to teach our children that the truth will set them free and even if they initially get away with a lie; it will come eventually come back...and probably when they least expect it. We commit to knowing what Your word says about the truth and lies, so we will not be caught up and so that we can tell our children why lying is wrong. We declare right now that any lie seeking to take root in our lives or the lives of our children is dug up, cut up and cast away in the name of Jesus! We hold Your truth as self evident, Amen!
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