We all know that lying is wrong, and we’ve been taught that lying not only hurts us, but everyone that is involved in the situation. Some psychologists say if we find out that our children are lying we should celebrate. Why? Because they say, it’s good for the brain. In short, they’re saying that lying is showing that they’re smart. That it’s about an exchange rate; if your honesty gets you less and lying gets you more, you should lie. That is what they are considering smart. That is about as crazy as telling us Hollywood is real life. Maybe their boss should lie about their pay so they would work harder for him? The boss would be smarter. Would that be alright? This is like saying he is smarter because he has more bills (that can be relative to his lifestyle), but the truth is we all have bills, and we have to be honest to pay them.
We need to be taught to tell the truth. If we don’t say anything, we can still be dishonest. Lying is a selfish act. To speak the truth is hard. Why are we told to hold in the truth? Because it can be uncomfortable for someone. Couldn’t that be considered lying to that someone? We can’t build a healthy relationship on a lie; it may last for a while until the truth is let out. What if we have a friend who enjoys driving west, and we know the bridge is out in that direction? Should we not tell him/her that a disaster awaits even though we know he/she loves driving west, and they will get upset when we say don’t go that way? We could lose a friend but not a life.
Love and peace are popularized so much so that we lie about ourselves to get it, and then we wonder why we lose it. Truth is definite — that is why so many throw dirt at it. We seem to overlook that truth is what holds up the dirt. The fact is, we have love and peace because someone believed in it so much so that He died for it! Jesus Christ had to fight through the lies to bring the truth that brought Him death. But God raised Him from the dead to show us the real truth: to be honest in our heart, to love God with all our strength, mind, soul and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That principle is what Jesus laid down His life for, and He was murdered for that. Jesus called His accusers liars because they said God was in them. Was that unconditional love or selfishness?
Hating others for believing different is wrong. Sharing the truth that Jesus said to love not only your neighbor but also your enemy, got both Jesus and his close disciples murdered. For what? Loving God, loving their neighbor, or were they killed for telling the truth?
