God detests a lying tongue! Should Christians Lie?

Lying! Love affairs, work relationships, name it, are all compromised. Seems like there is no single institution where lying never prevails. Even among the church, God’s chosen people, lie!Lying appears a generation curse, one that no human can ever escape apart from a few exceptions. A little kid will lie in order to miss school while the dad will lie to make ends meet. Others will lie for fun; a clear example is Fools Day! An online dictionary defines lying as knowingly and willingly presenting false representation of truth or reality. And to religion, lying is a terrible sin with endless impacts though Christians do it. “We are human and fall into the trap of lying to keep things going. All we need is repenting from time to time,” says Grace Kabano. He is a Junior Pastor with Prayer Palace Church- Remera. Experience has taught Kabano that a ‘little white lies’ is unavoidable, though the bible clearly puts it that all sins are equal. “Someone who lies is equal to a murderer according to the bible,”comforms Kabano. Meanwhile, most Christians will chose lying over any other sin. The impacts of lying in day to day life are less grave. “Fornication is a highway to getting HIV, robbery leads to imprisonment while being a big time liar is not punishable,” says Josephine Abera, a devoted Catholic. And though the physical consequences of lying are nothing other than ‘mistrust’, God is so strict on liars. The bible makes it abundantly clear how God feels about lying. And the bible pronounces lies as ‘evil’, not Godly at all. In The Gospel of John: 8:44, Jesus says, “When the devil speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it,” In other words God never approves of lies. Not to lie is one of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” quotes Exodus: 20 The scripture reveals a deep seated contempt on God’s part for both lies and people who lie and among the six things that God hates most, lying comes at number two. “These six things, the Lord hates, they are an abomination unto him, A proud look, a lying tongue ……,” Proverbs 16:19. Some Christians would rather not lie than live with the impacts a lie can cause. “Lying is a very bad habit that can change the direction of every relationship be it intimacy, business or a social relationship,” says Eugene Mutara, a born again Christian. In the bible readings, some cases of lying are punishable even before hell time. For instance, Ananias and Sapphira {husband and wife} were struck by death following just telling a lie. This is according to Acts 5. And before following the crowd into deception, first weigh the cost of lying. “The bible encourages God’s followers to differ by doing the right thing even when it’s only them doing so,” says Mutara.And when the bible states that, “The truth will set you free,” it’s indeed the truth to set people free from the lying generation. lillianean@yahoo.com