Lying Tongue

Proverbs 6:16–19

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

As we will see in this list, God is personalizing the actions He hates by connecting them to the body part we use to commit them. Today, we move from haughty eyes to a lying tongue.

Lying is one of our first sins. As a child, we lie about making our bed, brushing our teeth, eating the cookie, or who hit whom first…. Lying comes naturally because we are naturally ashamed of our sin. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we seek to cover our failure rather than confess it.

Do you still lie? Some of you may think that lying is a thing of your past, but I question whether that is true.

Sometimes our most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves. We call gossip “sharing news.” We call greed “wisdom.” We call sinful behavior “just my personality.”

We may not cheat on our taxes, but we lie to protect feelings, to downplay failures, or to keep approval. A lying tongue is still within us and must be combated.

Often, the root of lying stems from our desire to control an outcome. We don’t want to disappoint others, be embarrassed, or be proven wrong, so we fudge the truth just enough to avoid the consequences.

What truth are you tempted to bend today?

What are you trying to protect—your reputation, your comfort, your approval, your control?

The antidote to lying is confession. Confession is agreeing with God about what He already knows. The way out of a lie is not another lie. It is confession. Tell the truth to God, tell the truth to yourself, and, where necessary, tell the truth to the person you have deceived. Freedom begins when we stop hiding.