Proverbs 20
Bible Passage: Proverbs 20
“The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”
~ Zeph 3:13
LIES
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
~ 1 Tim 4:1-2
Toddlers and younger children in general give themselves away easily when they try to lie about something. They stumble over their words or simply blurt out the truth unwittingly. We seem to get ‘better’ in deception to veil our true motives as we grow older.
Proverbs 20 covers many good teachings but its warnings on our lying tongues and deceitful hearts resonates in a good number of verses (Proverbs 20:1, 6, 10, 14, 17, 19, 23). This brings to mind the first recorded instance of lying in Genesis 3.
Reading Genesis 3 gives me the chills. Lies are easily overlooked when we are not alert and not discerning. Especially when the liar is a pro! Read carefully again how the serpent carries itself and how its lying is executed. It lies with no hesitation, filled with confidence and even with reasoning!
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
~ Gen 3:4-5
It is no wonder then, that the devil is called the ‘father of lies’. Are we also slowly but surely deceiving more and more people successfully with our prolific lying, perhaps even deceiving ourselves into believing that the ‘small’ lies we tell have no particular negative impact on anybody and becoming the devil’s advocate in this aspect?
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
~ John 8:44
THE BOASTER, FLATTERER, THE DRUNK, THE CHEAT, THE HYPOCRITE & THE TALE-SPINNER
Lies can take many forms – in dishonesty, hypocrisy, boasting, cheating, flattery, tale-spinning and yes, even in drunkenness.
A dishonest person and a cheater lies for his own gains. A hypocrite lives in his own lie. A boaster exaggerates his strengths and situation with lies. A flatterer’s words drip with sweetness and lies. A tale-spinner or gossiper’s news are often peppered with juicy lies. And when we are drunk, we are not in full command of our faculties, and essentially lying to ourselves that everything is all right, or so long as I am not able to feel them, my troubles do not exist.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.”
~ Rom 1:28-31
It is interesting how the author places Boasters in the very same verse describing the haters-of-God, the violent and the inventors of evil things. This serves to emphasize the seriousness of the sin of deceiving others in our boasting.
THE DAMAGE
At the heart of the act of lying, manifested in any of the above forms, is an unstable, deceitful heart and in some cases, a seared conscience.
What is the impact and damage of weaving lies into our lives?
The following verses clearly give us the answers.
“Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.”
~ Psalms 31:18
“Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight.”
~ Proverbs 11:1
“who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
~ Romans 1:32
May God cleanse our hearts, and keep us truthful and pure.
As Proverbs 20:11 says, even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. Our God is not fooled.
5 Comments
depress one
How about white lies? Example for Feedbacks, should we be direct and hurting or tactful and withholding our direct thoughts? Or even sugar-coat it? Please help. Thanks
YS
I do think lying comes naturally with age and to speak slower is a means to check what I say. This was a complete elaboration on lying!
InHisTime
depress one: I used to think white lies should be acceptable. But I asked an older sister before, what if i get captured by enemies and they force me to tell them my parents’ whereabouts?
She told me God will definitely see me through, and we can don’t reply, or say “I wont tell you”.
This is an act of faith too…just my humble opinion 😀
JoyousConcerto
@depress one: Actually I think the term ‘white lie’ is coined by man. A lie is a lie. However like InHisTime mentioned, there are many ways to give feedback/reply. There is also our own intentions to consider. Are we deliberately withholding information for our own benefit/because we cannot bear to face the consequences? Ultimately our feedback should benefit the party receiving the feedback (especially critical if it involves matters of salvation). But there are many ways to dispense our feedback, and it also differs from person to person depending on how close you are to the recipient. We cannot simply force everything down his throat at once either, especially for negative feedback! We may end up in a fight and that is no help to both parties either. Instead of winning a brother, we may end up losing him altogether. This is similar to preaching. How and when to preach? When we have a genuine heart, God will see us through our efforts =)
depress one
Hi all,
Thanks for the feedbacks. No pun intended. From what i gathered, I think what is mention above is that deliberately withholding some direct facts (which are hurtful to the person) is not equal to a lie. And sometimes it is better to remain silent or decline to reply, both actions doesn’t constitute a lie. And when giving a feedback, we need to do it with a sincere heart not with a wrong motive of belittle others. In all things edifying to the listener. Please correct if i got it wrong. Thanks!