There is a good chance you’ve heard the expression, “if you’ve never lied to a woman before, you don’t love her.” The notion that we may find ourselves in situations and circumstances in which we must lie to people we genuinely care about in order not to hurt their feelings. This should appal anyone who cares about righteousness and justice, and rightly so. Something is very wrong when we expect objective feedback from strangers and nothing but flattery from our friends. Nothing that has ever stood the test of time has ever been built on lies.
The Bible teaches that lying indicates a lack of love in a relationship (Romans 13: 8-10, Ephesians 4:25). You will never lie to someone you care about. There is a better reason to tell the truth for every good reason to lie. We often tell lies because we do not trust the other person to handle the truth. However, if you think about it, when the truth comes out, what hurts the most isn’t what happened, but the fact that a lie was used to cover it up. Your uncle wasn’t upset because you broke his favourite cup; he was upset because you lied and covered it up.
Not everyone wants to know the truth. They simply want a filter to apply to reality that will numb them to their folly. You must be wary of such people and act quickly to remove them from your inner circle. Proverbs 9:7-8 (ESV), “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” You are in a bad situation if your friends would rather lie to you than confront you with the truth.
