Liar liar pants on fire! Fibber, storyteller, yuck-mouth! How many other words can you use to describe a person that doesn't tell the truth? The list can go on and on, but then we'll never get to the point here. Then we have degrees of lying, such as white lies and half truths. We have people that say things jokingly to get a laugh but they aren't true. So how do we determine when something is a lie? One way is to establish the truth. Truth is established by facts. So when someone makes a claim the facts have to substantiate the claims. If a person cannot back up what they say with facts, then in all probability it may be a lie. The liar has the burden of proof. We live in a world that is ruled by how we perceive things. Our perception is mostly based on our five senses. How we see things and what we hear and smell and taste, along with our ability to touch and feel things shapes our perception. Biblical faith on the other hand has nothing to do with our senses. Something can feel right but be totally wrong. We can often misread what we see or hear. Sometimes we can smell something and it smells wrong. Our senses can fool us. Our thoughts deceive us also. So do our hearts and emotions.

Have you ever been lied to? How did you feel when you found out the truth? It doesn't feel good, does it. Makes you angry, like you've been betrayed. Have you ever lied to someone else? How did they react when they found out the truth? They made you feel guilty, didn't they. How about when someone is a compulsive liar? Can you ever believe a word they say? A lot of times people won't admit to being a liar because it's a matter of pride. When you confront a liar with the truth they can get defensive and hostile, swearing up and down on someone's grave or their children's lives, when they know they are not telling the truth. A lot of people are embarrased when they know that they are being deceived because they don't want anyone to know they could have been so stupid to fall for the lie. So most of the time they won't confront the deceiver, for fear of being proved wrong. Okay but what if it is a group of people that is being deceived? Then when you try to explain it to them they get hostile. Don't you have an obligation to tell the truth? Keeping silent is just as bad as being a liar. Telling the truth is not the same as judging people. Jesus said things to people that made them very upset yet he never judged anyone.

What did Jesus have to say in regards to liars?

Ouch! That sounds pretty harsh, yet Jesus never judged anyone. So there is a major difference between telling the truth and judging. If you love someone you will tell that person the truth no matter how much it hurts. If the person is a true friend they may be hurt, but later they will come back to you and thank you for being honest. Even Pontius Pilate wasn't sure what the truth was. His truth was based on the ideals of a system that conquered, ruled and oppressed people.

What is the truth? The truth is what is left when you remove everything that's associated with a lie. Are you honest with yourself? If you aren't how can you be honest with anyone else? Are you living according to the truth or are you living a lie? What do other people say about you? Do your neighbors know you as a child of God? Or do they see something else? If seeing is believing it's easy to see how people can be deceived. People are looking for something tangible because it appeals to the flesh. Faith is old-fashioned. Spirituality is out of style. Holiness is for the Holy Rollers and Bible Thumpers. Nowadays you have to embrace new Ideas because we live in a new age. I'll tell you what. If you believe all that garbage then you are deceived. We walk by faith and not by sight. Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Without Holiness no one will see God. You want to embrace something new? Try being a new creature. I may sound old-fashioned but I have a clear conscience. Sure the truth hurts when you don't want to hear it. When you want to live separate from the world the truth will set you free. If you are not free its because you haven't fully accepted the truth about who you really are. You are not free if you have not accepted who God is and what he did for you. You are not free if you still believe what people told you about yourself in the past. All that negative talk about how you are no good and would never amount to anything. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now. You are more than a conqueror. You can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. That is the truth. Stop deceiving yourself into thinking there is something more than Jesus. Stop allowing fear to dictate what you do or don't do. Don't give the devil the satisfaction of making your life a living hell. Be true to yourself. Speak the truth at all times and live in the truth of the Word of God. Don't put your trust in other people because when they fail to meet your needs you will be worse off than when you started. If I sound like I'm preaching then maybe I am. I'm only speaking the truth. what you do with it is up to you. Shalom