You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
Matthew 12.34-37
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death'
Revelations 21:8
"People lie for all sorts of reasons," "Most are based on fear, such as fear of being rejected, fear of losing something, fear of conflict, fear of being unpopular or offending, fear of truth/reality or as a result of general insecurity."
"Reasons for lying vary depending upon age, circumstance and a host of other factors. Lies can range from the harmless 'little white lies' to save people's feelings to ruthlessly vicious lies to hurt, control, and gain.
"Lying often starts in childhood, where true 'ego-protecting' lies begin at about age five to seven. Earlier lies are usually lies of confusion such as in 'animistic lies'.
"Early childhood lies are usually where the reality of the world hasn't been sorted out, so kids cover for themselves in a very ignorant, awkward way. For the rest of us, lies are usually more sophisticated. We lie to be empathetic (no, you don't look fat!), to enhance ourselves (I can speak 10 languages fluently) or for anti-social and selfish reasons (intending to cause damage).
"In fact, psychologists claim that even an honest person will tell 70 or more lies per day."
Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. - 1 Timothy 4:1-3
What makes people lie?
Greed - for power, for advantage, for money, for admiration
Fear - we are sometimes driven to lie by fear - usually of what will happen if we tell the truth
Acceptance - no man is an island. We find ourselves doing whatever it takes to be accepted, to be liked and appreciated
Habit - compulsive liars lie compulsively because they are used to it
We are all human. Deep inside, we all have a longing to be liked, to be accepted by a certain clique. We want people to look up to us, to respect us, to treat us as equals or better. At the same time, many of us, from brutal years of childhood, have acquired a certain sense of inadequacy - a feeling that we are just not good enough to measure up to people's expectations. We feel that our lives are in severe need of excitement and glamour, that we are the most boring people on earth. So what do we do when we meet somebody whom we wish to impress, or are desperately seeking approval from? We lie. Self-aggrandisement.
And - in the case of those who make up stories of personal tragedies to gain sympathy. If you were somebody seeking an important position, or trying to impress people with your incredible abilities, wouldn't you get more admiration from those people if you were to throw in a tragic tale of how you'd spent six weeks trapped in the Himalayas with nothing more than a pick-axe and a box of matches, but managed to build yourself a camp and send a distress signal anyway?
Of course, many of these are boastful lies, fibs that are told in the locker room to a bunch of admiring comrades or team members, lies meant to be restricted to a small circle of 'confidants'. But sometimes, word gets out; the tale is spread, blown up out of proportion, and does serious damage. By that time, the lie will have snowballed too far for the liar to do anything about it, except maybe own up.
Compulsive lying
In most situations, we lie for one reason or another. It may be to get out of trouble, to gain an unfair advantage over somebody, to earn respect from others. Whatever the reason, good or bad, it can be justified.
But what about compulsive lying? There are those who are compulsive liars, who are compelled to tell lies even when it would do them no good, or when the truth would serve them better. These are people who say they'd bought a certain item from Shop A when in fact they'd obtained them from Shop Z; people who would say that they had been to a certain place even when they have not. How does it profit these people to lie?
'duping delight'. People who tell such lies do so not to get out of trouble, but for fun. For them, lying is like a drug that provides an adrenalin surge or a 'kick' sensation, and the feeling of being able to control the person they are lying to.
However, there are individuals who seem to lie automatically without the intention to deceive. A person who gets away with his first lie may be carried by the momentum of how easy it is to slip a lie past people. The second time around, it gets easier to repeat the lie with embellishments. The more you get away with it, the more you lie. And before you know it, lying has become second nature.
Father we thank you for your truthfulness, for your faithfulness. And we see this best in him who came to bear for us the cross of shame. We pray O Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth that you will shape our hearts and minds our words and actions to be true to God and true to our neighbor. May we bear the image of the Father and be children of Truth, in Jesus’ name.
