The Trouble with Lying

Have you ever been tempted to lie? Maybe you did something you knew you were not supposed to do—like going somewhere after school rather than going straight home. When your mother asked you if you came straight home, you felt panicked and did not want to tell her the truth. Or, maybe in school, you were talking in class. When the teacher asked if you were the one talking, you were tempted to say, "no." The urge to lie to avoid the consequences of our actions is a strong temptation. The first evil action recorded in the Bible was the lie that Satan told to Eve. Jesus said that Satan "is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44). And Cain lied when God asked him, "Where is Abel your brother?" (Genesis 4:9).

Lying is a very serious sin. It is not too serious when a little boy accidentally spills his milk, or a little girl gets her dress dirty. But it is very important for children not to lie about such things. Children who get away with enough lies in their early years find it easy to tell lies as adults. They can become so comfortable with lying that it no longer bothers them.

A Christian husband and wife (named Ananias and Sapphira) in the early church sold some land for a certain amount of money. They decided to give some of that money to the apostles to help needy Christians. It would have been fine for them to give only some of the money—if they would have been honest about it. But rather than telling the truth about giving only some of the money, they lied and said that they were giving all the money they had received from the sale of the land. Peter accused them of lying to God (Acts 5:4). God struck both the husband and wife dead that day for telling a lie.

In our day, God does not miraculously strike people dead for lying. But lying is still just as serious to Him. It is very important for us always to tell the truth—even if doing so means we get into trouble. The Bible says: "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Revelation 21:8).

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