Walking with the Wise #33: GOD Hates A Lying Tongue

“There are six things that the LORD hates,

seven that are an abomination to Him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue…”

—Proverbs 6:16-17

The truth of Sir Walter Scott’s words is still as true now as the day he wrote them:

“Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive."

Each lie we tell is like a strand of a web that increases in size and complexity the more we do it, increasing the likelihood that we will get caught in it. God hates lying, because lying attempts to communicate that which is not true, which is in direct opposition to who He is. God is the source of all truth, because He Himself is truth (John 14:6). And any type of lie, deceit or falsehood is a direct violation of His nature. Whenever we lie we are rejecting God as truth, preferring to align ourselves with lies, which are Satan’s territory. Jesus gives some penetrating insight into the origination of the lies when He says,

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies”—John 8:44.

The Bible teaches that the result of lying is eternity away from God in hell, as John wrote:

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death”—Revelation 21:8.

Satan is the father of lies; therefore, we must put away lying tongues, and make every effort to speak truth. As Paul wrote,

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another”—Ephesians 4:25.

I pray that we might always tell the truth. Whenever we tell the truth we do not need to worry about any web of lies that might destroy us. We can live freely without any fear of what may happen because of one of our lies coming back to entrap us. May we follow the words of Paul, who wrote,

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love”—Ephesians 4:15-16.

May the God of truth lead us into all truth, so that we might be living testimonies to the greatness of His name, so that others might see the truth of who Jesus is in our lives and be drawn to Him, the truth that sets us free (cf. John 8:32; John 14:6). Amen.