◄ What Does Colossians 3:9 Mean? ►

God is truth and the Author of truth, and He delights in truthfulness. Scripture tells us that the Lord hates liars and those that deceive others with a lying tongue. Paul instructs us not to lie to one another because as believers, we have laid aside the old Adamic nature and the evil practices that accompany our former - pre-salvation life.

We have died with Christ and have been raised up together with Him into newness of life... and a lying tongue or a mouth that practices deceit, is rooted in the old sin nature. As blood-bought children of God, we have dispensed with the evil ways of that past life. As born-again believers, we have the Seed of Christ within. He is incarnate Truth, and He is permanently abiding in us.

To engage in a sinful practice such as lying, which is hated so intensely by the Lord, should be equally hateful to the one that is walking in spirit and truth. Satan lied to Eve in the beautiful garden and deceived her by twisting the truth and giving her a half-truth, which resulted in the downfall and death of mankind and the loss of man's privileges as God's chosen caretaker of creation. Man's fall resulted in a bitter curse being proclaimed over everything that God had made - and that curse continues to this very day.

Scripture reveals in the book of Proverbs, that there are seven things which God hates and which are an abomination to Him, and at least three of them relate to lying, twisting the truth, deceiving others, and bearing false witness against our fellow-man.

We read: "There are six things which the LORD hates - yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife among brothers."

God hates a lying tongue, a false witness, a deceptive spirit, and a foul mouth, and so it is not surprising that such an emphasis is placed on speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when lies and deception are so hated by the Lord.

As we reflect on the many unguarded things that we have said with our lips, the ungodly thoughts we have manufactured in our hearts, the imaginations we have constructed in our minds, or the part-truths we have planned against our fellow man to protect our own 'integrity' - we begin to realise the magnitude of the twisted nature of our own tongue.

No surprise that Peter instructs us to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit, while James reminds us that our mouth is full of deadly poison and exhorts us to bridle our tongues and to keep from speaking boastfully or twisting our words. Although it is a small organ of our body, the tongue has the potential to do much damage to our fellow man and it reveals what is secreted within our hearts - and we are reminded in Scripture that we have to give an account of every idle word we have spoken.

Although every sinful, careless, or lying word we have ever uttered, or will utter in the future, has been covered by the blood of Christ and forgiven, nevertheless we have a responsibility to speak only those things that glorify our Saviour and honour His name. God, who reads the hearts of men, knows that the words that proceed from our mouth are originally conceived within our heart.

And so we are instructed to take every thought captive to Christ so thoughts cannot be translated into a lying tongue or a false witness. Let us therefore take to heart these words of instruction: "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self, with its evil practices."

Heavenly Father, I know that there are many times when the words I have uttered have dishonoured Your name. Forgive me for the times that I have lied, been careless in my speech, engaged in any form of double-talk, or massaged the truth for my own personal gain. I pray that from this day forward, the thoughts that develop in my mind would immediately be taken captive to You so that the words that proceed from my mouth would honour Your name and bring glory to You. In Jesus' name, AMEN.