Avoid a lie

Proverbs 13:5 (NKJV)

5 A righteous man hates lying, But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.

The righteous believe in truth and justice. They abhor sin and with sin come lies that try to mask or cover the sins committed. The wicked will tell lies to cover their sin, but those moments are only short lived. Eventually the wicked must face their sin and their lies become unraveled.

When I was a teenager a bunch of friends were getting together for a party. Wanting to be a part of the cool crowd; a friend and I plotted how we might attend the party. He said his parents were going to be out of town for the night. So I lied to my mother and said I was staying at his house. My friend called his parents to say he was staying at my house. We figured our parents would never talk to one another. It was a perfect plan.

So the lie began and we went and spent the evening with others we knew. It was more of a gathering than a party, yet we still lied about where we would be. Everyone left early in the morning, so we did too. I went to drop off my friend at his house before going home. It’s then we realized his parent’s car was there; seems they came home early too. So we came up with another lie, “Just go in the house and pretend like you came home early because I had to work.” So I dropped him off and went home thinking he went on in the house.

Unknown to me my friend never went inside. He got in his car and left fearful his parents might suspect something. Well I went home thinking things were all nice and tidy. I had just gone to take a shower for work when I heard my mother say from the other room, “No, I haven’t seen him. No he didn’t spend the night here.”

The next thing I heard was a knock at the bathroom door and in a stern voice my mom said, “I want to see you when you get out here.” Needless to say my lies unraveled quickly.  My friend also finally went home and his parents were waiting on him. Both of us ended up on restriction which we deserved.

A person never prospers from a lie, but instead finds themselves faced with not only the shame of the sin they committed, but the shame of the lie. The lie also makes things worst because it breaks trust. How can someone believe the next time you are telling the truth when you have told a lie in the past. Maintain righteousness and do not lie so that you do not have to face the shame that will follow.