Trail of lies

Proverbs 11:3
3 Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.

This proverb asserts God will guide the upright. The proverb also states dishonesty will destroy those who turn to evil purposes. Integrity, honesty and sincerity will guide a good person in the way of duty and safety. Their principles are clear and they can walk with an upright conscience. However, iniquity leads a person to ruin so their own perverseness will be their pit of destruction. They falsely believe their dishonesty will protect them, but in the end it will lead to ruin.

Shame is a powerful motivator. Shame is a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety. When a person commits an act they know is seriously wrong shame begins to overwhelm them. Often to handle the shame a person will begin to lie to cover up their shameful trail. As lies continue their life becomes compartmentalized. Take a person who appears to have a wonderful marriage. Then assume they start seeking out inappropriate relationships and involving themselves in self-destructive behaviors; eventually they have to admit their faults or do like some and lie to cover up their shame. There is a saying that honesty heals and secrets kill. It is so true and like the proverb above dishonesty will destroy. Even when sin is committed; honesty will bring about healing for the person. They may still have to deal with the shameful feelings and the consequences, but at least they are on the right track to recovery. The people around them know what they are dealing with and can help in ways the person did not imagine. If the person lies about an affair or problem they are having; they start building boxes to hold their lies. This is when compartmentalization begins. They may tell their spouse they are working, which in fact they are meeting their affair partner. Then they may tell lies to their affair partner to make the lies to their spouse feel more comfortable. They may have to lie to their friends who see them out with the affair partner. As the lies grow and grow the person is now trapped into maintaining those lies for different groups. The only way to bring about healing is honesty. Honesty destroys the compartmentalized boxes and makes the person whole again. Their anxiety reduces and they can work on their problem with the help of those who understand their failure.