Honesty is the only policy
I was having trouble with my Internet service a while back and had to call technical support three times before the issue was completely resolved. I had to laugh internally as the three different tech support personnel I spoke with were named Tom, Michelle and John. The problem was that all three had such thick foreign accents that I know those weren’t their real names. The company apparently thinks it is better to try to deceive their clients, thinking we are foolish enough to believe that their tech support actually originates in the United States.
Genuine trust is difficult. Because of the sin nature that we all share, we find it hard to trust the people we encounter, and it is also hard to live in a manner in which others can fully trust us. Deception usually rules the day, primarily because the current ruler of this world, Satan, is the Father of Lies.
Despite this difficulty, Solomon encourages us to be truthful in all we do, even if it may seem difficult: “Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed.”
One of the primary reasons that marriages break up is deception. One spouse has problems with their marriage, but instead of confronting the problem, they bury it. Once it is buried, a series of lies will be necessary to keep it buried. The more lies that are told, the easier it gets to continue.
The same can be said of corporate and political corruption, business relationships, church politics, etc. The minute any kind of relationship loses the ability to trust, problems will ensue and often multiply.
When we engage in any form of deception, it is because we believe that we will be better off in some way. We either don’t want to reveal our weaknesses or we see some advantage. Lying to someone proves you do not love them as genuinely as you should because genuine love will always do what is best for the other person, and not yourself if a choice must be made.
One lie will always lead to other lies and other sins, even if the initial deception seemed harmless.
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So, it is always better to have truth reign in any situation. Even if the truth causes pain to you and others, you can work with the situation when everything is out on the table.
How do you deal with deception? Where does it end? At what point can you truly believe anything? How confident are you in someone who says, “I know I lied to you before, but this is now the truth?”
When you allow deception to be even a small part of your life, you will be causing great damage to yourself. Lies and deceit will always cause harm, regardless of how much you can rationalize or justify it. Unconfessed sin will manifest itself in damaged and broken relationships with other people in your life.