Proverbs 14:5
Today’s proverb almost seems too simple. An
honest person is honest and a deceitful person deceives. Everybody knows that!
The real question is: do we believe that a person can be honest?
Our society and our sinful nature have convinced
so many that little lies really don’t count against us, since everyone does it.
Everyone stretches the truth sometimes, right? So it must be OK! At least this
is what we are told by the voices in this world.
We have some people who have made lying a
profession. They are so good at lying to your face that they can say two
completely contradictory things and deny that they are contradictory. They
always couch their language in such a way that they have plenty of wiggle room
if they get caught.
Are you known as a person who wiggles out of
situations? Or do you admit your mistakes and take the consequences?
Our proverb states honesty in absolute
terms. An honest witness does not deceive. Honesty and deception are two
opposites. In fact, they are exclusive of each other. If you are honest you don’t
deceive, and if you deceive you aren’t honest.
We don’t spy on Americans, and yet we spend
millions of dollars collecting data on everyone. I guess we just need to change
the definition of spying! We’ll give it some lawyer language, technical jargon
meaning, and then be able to dismiss it, at least in our minds. At some point
deception becomes obvious. I think we have reached that point.
But what about us! Are we always honest? Or
do we deceive to protect ourselves from consequences?
The person on the other end of the spectrum “pours
out lies.” In other words, no matter what a liar says, we can never know if it
is true or false, because the source is contaminated. If a spouse has lied,
then the other spouse doesn’t know what to believe. I hear this so often when
adultery has happened. If they could lie and hide it for so long, and I missed
it, then how do I know they are being honest now? This places many a spouse in
an almost impossible situation. They want to trust, but the other person has
proven themselves untrustworthy.
Often one lie leads to many others. We lie
to cover up the first lie. And they cycle continues. And the only antidote is
honesty. And with honesty comes consequences.