Adam and Eve walked in the Garden hand in hand. As they walked they jigged and twirled. It was wonderful to be alive! They never got tired of exploring their beautiful, breathtaking surroundings. Everything was awash with vibrant colours, exciting the eyes, thrilling the senses.
Naked as jaybirds, but not ashamed, they delighted in Eden their pleasure. Soon Abba would come to walk and talk with them. This was the high point of their day! Abba loved them so much. Daily they exulted in that love.
“Pssst”, Come on over”, beckoned the crafty snake from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, the forbidden tree. “This is my favourite spot; a lovely tree isn’t it?” “The best in the Garden”. “See how vibrant its leaves, how luscious its fruit!” “Did God really say, you shouldn’t eat of any tree in the Garden?”
“We can eat of any tree except that one”, said Eve, eyes widening. “God said we should not eat of it or even touch it or we shall surely die”.
“You shall not surely die! The serpent winningly retorted. “God is mean, He’s holding out on you, He does not want you to have the good life.” He knows when you eat of the tree your eyes will be opened and you will be just like Him, knowing good and evil.”
Eve was enticed, convinced. The tree was lovely, its fruit was delightful. She took, she ate. She gave to Adam. He ate. Their eyes were opened.
Paradise lost, all because of lies.
Have you ever thought about “lies”?
What’s to think about? You may ask – Plenty! Ephesians 5:11 encourages us “And do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead even expose them.” (Berean Literal Bible). If ever there was an unfruitful work of darkness, it would be lies.
Lies should be exposed for what they really are, debilitating (they suck the life out of you) and destructive. They have far-reaching effects not only on the “liar”, but on the one “lied to” and on the one(s) “lied about”. The trouble is, these effects are often hidden/covered so they are just as often overlooked and sometimes shrugged off.
Where do lies come from? Jesus provided the answer to the Jews who accused Him in John 8:44 ‘Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. Who is the father of lies? Satan. We saw how masterfully he reeled them off in the Garden, which is the first instance of lies recorded in the Scriptures. I believe he lied to the angels who followed him into rebellion. But that’s another discussion.
Father means source, so Satan is the source of lies. When someone or something is a source, what does that mean? It means they are the originators and that they have an abundance of it. If you ever want it, you go to them.
When someone lies, they align themselves to the source of lies – Satan and therefore become anti-truth. Truth has its source in the Father/Person of Truth Jesus Christ. Jesus has an abundance of truth. The Scripture says of Him – “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NIV)
The Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary labels a lie as “a falsehood uttered or acted out for the purpose of deception, an intentional violation of truth.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes that to lie is to speak falsely, to fabricate, to make a false statement with the intent to deceive. Illustrations of lies in the Scriptures include:
A life lived under false pretences – a hypocritical life (Jeremiah 23:14)
A vain thing, like an idol (Isaiah 59:4)
A false system (Romans 3:7)
Error as opposed to truth (1 John 2:21)
The denial of the deity of Jesus Christ (1 John 2:22)
Satan’s dealing’s with Eve (Genesis 3:1-6)
Sadly, lying is a racial sin – the whole human race is guilty (Psalms 58:3). It is part of the old Adamic nature (Colossians 3:9) which the believer is called upon to put off.
God calls lying an abomination i.e. it is exceptionally loathsome, hateful, sinful, wicked or vile. His attitude towards it is expressly marked throughout the Old and New Testaments in passages such as:
Proverbs 13:5 – The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench, and bring shame upon themselves (NIV).
Zephaniah 3:13 – They will do no wrong, they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid NIV.
1 Timothy 4:2 – These teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron NIV.
Lies create a host of problems including:
- Cognitive depletion – The Cognitive Depletion Theory asserts that self-control/will power (which one has to exercise in order not to lie) draws upon a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up or depleted. Therefore, one will get to the point where they no longer can exercise self-control/will power and lying becomes habitual.
Arguing biblically, self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If one constantly lies, this fruit has no place in his/her life who becomes as one whose conscience has been seared with a hot iron.
- Increase in the risk of punishment – Do you remember your mother saying “Pickney, tell mi di truut, ef u tell mi lie mi ago tear u kin, ef u tell mi di truut mi might nuh even beat u. (Child, tell me the truth; if you tell me a lie I am going to flog you; if you tell me the truth, I might not even beat you). Enough said – You get the point.
- Threatens people’s self-worth – Thereby preventing them from seeing themselves as they really are.
- Erodes trust – Trust is a basic ingredient in all relationships; if there is no trust the relationship doomed to failure.
- Leads to a variety psychological, physiological, mental and spiritual problems.
In Jamaican culture, we have become so used to lies and lying that we laugh about it. Picture the shenanigans of Anancy, a liar and trickster that has become so entrenched in the way of life that we tell our children stories, thereby extending the life of this character.
We excuse and rationalize lies by calling them “white”. Afta all, nuttin nuh wrang wit a likkle white lie! (After all, nothing is wrong with a little white lie!).
However, we know that lies are dangerous. We know the harm they cause to ourselves and others. Considering this – why do we lie?
Our exploration continues.
I would love to hear from you. Shoot me an email
Sharon E. Hermitt
Managing Director
HRWisdom Limited
Sexual Shalom Global Outreach
ahermittsmusings@gmail.com; hrwisdom2020@gmail.com;
December 7, 2020