What are little white lies? What is it about them that make us think they’re okay to tell? Are they really smaller than other lies? What is the measuring scale we use to tell if its a little lie or a big lie? I mean, a lie is a lie, and Satan is the father of ALL lies (great and small). Can we put parameters around it and say, oh, just this much Satan is okay, but any more and it’s bad. *eye roll*
I started filling out a food log for my personal trainer, and I’ve discovered that there are just a few little things every here and there that I’d rather he not know about. For example, I had some apple crisp this morning. Its fall, the apples are perfect, and some sweet person at work brought some apple crisp in to the office to share. It was still warm and gooey and the smell of cinnamon permeated the air. Mmmm. I couldn’t help myself. I HAD to have some. I just had a little…but when I went to add it to my food log, everything within me wanted to write down, “apples with cinnamon.”
“Its not a lie,” I heard myself think. I DID have apples with cinnamon. I just left out the part with the sugar and the carb-heavy, flour-laiden crumbly crust.
Lies, deceit, omission of important details…its all the same thing. Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, I had done something I was ashamed of and then I wanted to hide the fact that I did it. Why? The trainer isn’t going to throw me out of the gym. Yes, he will likely intensify my workout a bit, but that’s a reasonable consequence for my momentary lack of self-control. But to lie over something so stupid…who would it really be hurting?
Me.
First of all, it would hurt my workout plan. My trainer has laid out plans to help me achieve my goals. I am paying him to help me watch my diet and design an exercise plan to suit me. If I start lying to him, how can he figure out what’s working and what isn’t? How can he possibly help me if I’m not giving him accurate information?
Secondly, and more importantly, it would hurt my witness. What if he found out about the apple crisp? I don’t know how, but just work with me here. What if the lady I work with started going to the gym and she said something about it in front of him? He would know that he couldn’t trust me. And here I am…an example of Christ…and I’m lying about apple crisp. What else might I have lied about? How could he believe anything I ever said? What is sacred? Have I any integrity at all at this point? And THIS is how Christians behave? Oh, yeah, I want some of that in my life! Way to go. That totally blew any opportunity I may have had to be an ambassador for Christ. Any seeds I may have planted are now dead. Nice one. I hope that apple crisp was really worth it.
And, finally, it wouldn’t have been good for me…the way I feel about myself. I would know I was lying and I would feel like a big, fat liar. Even if he never found out what I did, I would know what I did and I just don’t like the guilty feeling you get when you lie to people. What is so serious that you’re willing to go through all of that in order to “get by with something” that you’re not really getting by with anyway? Your body knows what you ate, and you’ll gain the same pounds whether you’re truthful to anyone else about it or not.
I even find myself doing these things with God. I’ll tell Him, “oh, I forgive that person,” but every time I hear their name I roll my eyes and think ugly thoughts. Or I’ll revel in listening to others tell me how much they don’t like that person either. What is up with that? God knows the truth. What do I think I’m trying to accomplish and who do I think I’m kidding? Oh, I’m so good I can fool the Lord. lol. What an idiot!
Now, don’t get me wrong, we do need to say things by faith sometimes before it comes to pass in reality. Like we may need to say, “I’m choosing to forgive her, Lord. Now please help me to walk this out in truth.” And we may even need to go back to the Lord several times and forigve the person all over again when ugliness tries to creep into our hearts…but that’s not the same thing as lying, so don’t even pretend it is.
We need to look closely at the words of our mouth. The Bible tells us in Proverbs (18:21), in our tongues, we hold the the power of life and death, and we will eat the fruit thereof. Whatever you choose to speak, you are allowing to come back and affect you and/or those who are all around you. I’m not saying you should tell your best friend about her surprise birthday party because you don’t want to “lie”…but we need to make sure we’re living in a way that we don’t feel its necessary to try to cover anything up. And, when we make mistakes, we just need to admit it and move on. Seriously. Who doesn’t make mistakes? We all do! Own it. Deal with it. Let it make you better. But don’t hide, by lying, from the things in life that provide you with challenges. Challenges are here to help us grow. If we’re lying, especially to ourselves, and trying to side-step the growth and maturity that we need to get to the next level…who are we really hurting?
220 Gal 