By Steve Greene

As you look back over the last year, the last three years, the last five years of your life, do you detect any positive change in the way you think, in the way you act, in the way you live?

If you pay attention to the voice of God, those inner promptings of his spirit will begin leading you down a new path for your life.

For instance, if you haven’t felt the nudge of the holy spirit in a while, if you can lie and not feel conviction, that is not because lying is acceptable to God. It may be because you have hardened your heart.

An old preacher once said, “You are never more like the devil than when you lie.” I think Jesus would agree. Here is what he said in the Gospel of John: “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Two of Satan’s favorite weapons are lies and deceit. Lies lead to bondage. Maybe that is why God hates lying so much. On the other hand, Jesus is the truth, and the truth sets us free.

Just so we are clear, a lie could be any attempt to deny or misrepresent the truth. Sadly, I have heard many Christians attempt to justify lying by referring to their deception as a little white lie. There is no scriptural distinction between big lies and little lies in Scripture.

Here is the truth about lies. Satan wants us to lie. We are speaking the language of our spiritual enemy whenever we decide to lie. Notice I said whenever we decide to lie because lying is a choice.

Some would have us believe they had no choice but to lie, but you don’t have to lie. You don’t have to deny or misrepresent the truth. Lying is a decision you make, and it a decision that is inconsistent with the character of God.

Lying might begin with something as simple as exaggerating a story to make yourself look better. Cheating on a test or on your taxes are forms of lying, no different than telling someone you were at a certain location when you were really someplace else.

A lie might be a blatant misrepresentation of truth or it might involve telling partial truths.

We’ll pick up there, next time.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].