LYING IS A SIN
Did Lance Armstrong lie? All I know is what I read/hear in the news. He was accused of doping by the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and denied it for many years. After they took away his Tour de France wins and the endorsements dried up, things changed and recently he admitted to doping. I cannot judge a man’s heart only his actions. It seems that taking away accolades and money changes a person’s thinking and attitude because Mr. Armstrong is now admitting to doping. Pete Rose has been in the news many times because of being banned from baseball because of gambling. He denied it for many years but in a desire to be eligible to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame he finally admitted to gambling. He is still banned and not eligible. In both of the above cases the individuals involved violated the rules of their game and then lied about it.
People lie about many things and for many reasons. All must be reminded that lying will damn the soul. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death’ (Rev. 21:8). Solomon, in his list of things the Lord hates, he writes, “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood” (Prov. 6:17).
Paul’s admonition is “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Eph. 4:25). Be careful! Lying becomes a habit. Children should be punished severely when caught in a lie. Teach them that there are consequences to lying. Parents don’t teach your children to lie. A creditor calls and the parents tell the caller the payment is in the mail. The truth is the child heard the parents arguing that they didn’t have the money to pay the bill. Truth is important. Solomon wrote, “Buy the truth, and sell it not…” (Prov. 23:23).
“A store manager heard his clerk tell a customer, ‘No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.’ Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, ‘Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.’ Then the manager drew the clerk aside. ‘Never,’ he snarled, ‘Never, never, never say we’re out of anything- say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted anyway?’ The clerk said, ‘Rain!’” Be careful folks!
Be like David, “I have chosen the way of truth…” (Ps. 119:30).
Larry