There is a sweet fragrance that emanates from truth, but there is a putrid, sour stench that permeates a lie. Those who have a reputation for choosing their words carefully will earn the trust of many. However, there will always be solemn consequences for those that do not cherish truth.
Ben Franklin apparently placed enormous value on speaking the truth. He is quoted as saying, “Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.”
Most who have chosen to speak carelessly, usually spend a good bit of time apologizing for their thoughtless words. I have finally come to realize that an I’m sorry, is little more than a dirty, stale towel used to clean up yet another mess made by one whose highest priority is himself.
Most children that take a cookie without permission, would never utter an “I’m sorry” unless they are caught. It is the same with most chronic apologizers, who would likely never admit their wrong had they not been found out.
I think it was Satan who told the very first lie ever recorded. In the garden of Eden, he said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Eve told him that they could eat of any tree in the Garden but the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and if they ate of it they would die. Satan then told the first lie: “Ye shall not surely die.”
So, where is Eve today? Have you seen her around anywhere? No, because she ate of the fruit, gave some to Adam, and in the course of time they both died. Just as God said they would. Why? Because God cannot lie. We can, and often do, but God cannot!
Our lies hinder our fellowship with God and always carry with them, consequences. The Bible speaks about lying as much or more than any other sin. You see, God’s word is the standard of truth and it charges us countless times as Christians to be a people of truth. After all, who is our father? Is it God or Satan?
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
May we always allow the lighthouse of truth to guide us through every storm of life.