Everybody Lies!
Copyright © May 12, 2017 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
"Everybody lies!"
When my five-year old granddaughter blurted out the above comment I realized that our casual conversation had just become very serious and that I needed to be very careful with my response because what I said could significantly impact her behavior for the rest of her life.
I also immediately realized from the tone of her voice and from her body posture that she firmly believed what she had just said and that I needed to be careful or I might lose my credibility as being someone she could trust.
Therefore I told her that just because other people lie doesn't mean that it is okay to lie. That would be like saying it is okay to steal because other people steal. Then I waited and I allowed her to change the conversation to another topic.
The reason I am sharing this episode from my life on my website is because many of you my readers may have children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, and sometime in the future you may have to deal with this same topic with someone you love. Therefore please allow me to share what I told my granddaughter a few days later after she had become less defensive about her position and she was intellectually willing to hear a different point of view on the topic.
Does Everybody Lie?
The statement that "everybody lies" is not true for two reasons:
- Some babies die before they learn how to talk. If a baby dies before it learns how to speak, then it is impossible for the baby to lie. Therefore the statement that "everybody lies" is false.
- Jesus Christ lived His entire life without committing any type of sin and this means Jesus never told a lie. This was why God accepted Jesus' death on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of everyone in the entire world. Jesus was without sin and He paid the price for the sins of all mankind so we could be redeemed from eternal death in hell and we could enter the gates of heaven so we can spend eternity with God in paradise. (Hebrews 9:27-28, Romans 10:9-13.)
If Almost Everybody Lies Then Does That Make Lying Okay?
If we change the original statement from "everybody lies" to "almost everybody lies" then does that justify lying?
When we are very young then we may tell a lie in order to avoid some type of punishment. However, as we gradually mature each one of us should eventually come to the conclusion that lying is wrong and that we should not lie, regardless of what the consequences might be for telling the truth.
God is truth and God always tells the truth. God does not want us to lie. If we want to please God then we should not lie. (Psalm 31:5, John 3:21, John 4:24, 1 John 4:6.)
The devil is a liar and the devil always tells lies. The devil is even capable of quoting the Holy Bible out-of-context in order to trick us into believing that the Bible says that we should do something that the devil knows is wrong. The devil is the father of lies. If we tell a lie then we are imitating the wicked behavior of the devil. (Matthew 4:5-6, John 8:44.)
The decision to lie or not lie is a decision that each one of us has to make.
God has given each one of us the freedom to chose whether we will tell the truth or a lie.
- If we tell the truth then we are imitating God our Father who loves us and who wants us to do good.
- If we tell a lie then we are imitating the devil our enemy who hates us and who wants us to do evil.
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com