Every Christian knows that lying is wrong. Proverbs 12:22 calls lying an abomination. It is one of those sins God hates (Prov. 6:16-19). And according to Revelation 21:8, those who lie will be punished with the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers and idolaters in hell. We know these verses well, yet given the right circumstances, many of us will lie anyway.
Sometimes a situation presents itself where lying seems like the best solution. Perhaps we broke something valuable. Maybe we exaggerated our skills or accomplishments to get a job. Maybe we did something that would hurt our reputation amongst people we love. No matter how sincere of a Christian you are, many situations could result in you telling a lie.
Abraham struggled with this exact issue. Twice, Abraham found himself in a circumstance where he tried to justify lying. In Genesis 12:10-20 and 20:1-18, Abraham stood before kings (Pharaoh and Abimelech respectively), and both times he feared that they would kill him if they found out that Sarah was his wife. She was very beautiful, so he feared they would want her for themselves.
So, Abraham lied, telling them that she was his sister instead. Abraham’s plan worked to keep the kings from killing him, but this news made them believe Sarah was eligible for marriage and so they tried to take her as a wife. But God intervened in both instances, withholding them from sinning against God (cf. Gen. 20:6). Abraham’s lie nearly put two innocent people in danger of God’s wrath.
Between Abraham, Pharaoh and Abimelech, Abraham should have been the one that knew how to be righteous. Instead, two pagans demonstrated greater integrity than God’s chosen man. As Christians, we have a responsibility to be lights of God’s righteousness in the world just like Abraham (cf. Matt. 5:14-16). Jesus chose us out of the world like the apostles before us (cf. John 15:19). If we allow circumstances to cause us to lie, we are no better than the world our Lord called us out of.
We must train ourselves to never see lying as an option. Proverbs 13:5 says, “A righteous man hates lying…” This requires a fundamental change of mind toward lying. We have to commit ourselves to the truth! Paul says in Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.” We must treat lying as a thing of the past. Later Paul exhorts us, “…that you put off, concerning your former conduct…” and “…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (4:22-24). If we are committed to the truth, then we will tell the truth even when it is hard.
