As I move forward in my lesson planning on the Book of Proverbs and the 4 C's of Thinking, Jesus has landed me on a particular passage that I have read many times, walked away learning from, and yet again, today, He is teaching me something new from it. Today my perspective on this passage is quite different.
It is found in Proverbs 25:18-"Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow."
When feelings override our thoughts, there can be trouble on the horizon.
If we are honest, we would admit we are all guilty of lying at some point or another. I know I am guilty of it.
For some lying has become a way if life. For others lying has become a source of power, and for others it is tool used to inflict pain and hurt on others.
Regardless of why we have lied, here are a few causes of lying our feelings produce when in control.
1. Anger-when we are angry, satan uses that anger as a tool to produce out Burt's of lies towards the ones we are angry at.
2. Jealousy-when one is jealous of another, satan uses it to his advantage. He focuses on the insecurity and fear and feeds it all sources of ammo, thus causing that person to construe a form of lies about themselves and/or others.
3. Failing to obey or follow through with a task. Many, when confronted with a question on a particular task, if not done, will lie in order to avoid punishment, which leads us to #4.
4. Gossip-is the biggest tool of lying today.
5. The desire to hurt-when one is hurt, jealous, angry or insecure, they will concoct many different forms of lies in order to hurt someone else. Not only will one spew lies about one person to another, they will also try and bring in helpers to do so. They will use anyone they can to inflict a little more pain on someone else. This cause of lying to me, really expresses just how hurtful and deadly it can be. It brings to light the true meaning of Proverbs 25:18. Have you ever experienced this before? Have you have done it before?
6. Shame-when we are ashamed of a decision we have made, actions we have taken, or words we have spoken, in order to avoid looking bad or facing the consequences of them, we lie in order to avoid them.
7. Fear of the reaction or response-this feeling starts at a very young age. As children we never wanted to disappointment our parents. Thus, we would lie in hopes they would never find out or be disappointed. The sad thing is this feeling continues even into our adult lives. We lie in our jobs to avoid our bosses being mad, we lie to our coworkers, we lie when about our taxes, we lie about our funicular status, we lie to our family members, it goes on and on. Jesus used Peter to show us just how easy it is when he told Peter he would deny Him 3 times. And Peter did, even after saying he wouldn't. His fear of what would happen if they knew he was a follower of Jesus, was so strong he lied in order to avoid the response and/or reaction. We must be very careful that we don't fall into the same temptation. One day, when real persecution begins, someone will ask you if you believe in Jesus Christ and in that moment you have the choice to choose. Will you proudly admit it knowing you could die, or will you deny it to save your life?
8. To avoid punishment-this is the sum of of all of the above. It is the main reason we lie today. We lie rather than admit our anger at the real issue, we lie to cover up our pride, we lie rather than admit we're jealous. We lie rather than admit we failed to do the job or admit we did it wrong. We lie rather than admit we gossiped. We lied to be hurtful. We lied rather than admitted we were ashamed of our actions. And we lied to avoid disappointing someone rather than to admit our wrong.
Avoidance also takes place here. When one is confronted about something said or done, they will avoid it all around. This does just as much harm as lying.
When we avoid a situation or what was said or done, it only reveals we too are guilty.
If we will allow The Lord to put our thoughts before our feelings we will be less likely to wound someone with our lies and even less likely to lie at that. Why? Because we will actually be thinking about the effects the lie will have on someone. We will remeber what this passage says about lying. It is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
And those are very strong words!
Next time you are tempted to lie, take that thought captive and let Jesus reveal to you why you don't need to do it, by reminding you of this verse.
Remember this, the damage of a lie is as severe as physically injuring someone, even to the point of killing them. Lies are that powerful and harmful, and satan is the Father of lies. His main goal is to destroy you with them.
Don't contribute to Satan's cause!
