Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight. NRSV
One of the things I hate about election time is the overflowing amount of caricatures, political cartoons, sarcasm, and satire that seems to flood the media. Political opponents, unwilling to simply point out differences, seem to resort to childish name-calling as they nitpick each other. Personally, it often seems to border on untruths, a picture painted that scarcely resembles the intended object.
To be honest, while I—like most Americans—utilize sarcasm on some occasions, I don’t like it. I think that jokes and satire about others simply hides mistrust and anger and doesn’t truthfully deal with the situation or the person. We excuse it to “make a point,” but the fact is, what we are often trying to do is to paint the other person as low as possible so that we can be better than them.
What is a lie? The dictionary gives two definitions: “1 : to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive 2 : to create a false or misleading impression.” The idea is that, when we lie, we want those listening to us to have a different impression than what they might draw if they hadn’t listened to us. In other words, we want to manipulate them, to steer their opinion of the situation or person in a different direction than if we had stayed silent. Also note that lies aren’t just false; they can also be misleading.
The opposite of lying is, amazingly enough, faithfulness. Faithfulness to what (or to Whom)? Well, to the Lord, of course. When we are faithful to Him, we aren’t worried about what others think or how they might respond to us. We don’t feel the need to manipulate their opinions. We can trust the Lord to work everything for our good. So we say (or do) what is true, not trying to control or fudge on the situation.
When we trust Him, the Lord delights in us! Isn’t that amazing? That we can be something that makes the Lord happy? He is the Creator, Controller, Ruler of the universe and yet, He is delighted when we choose to trust Him, to place our lives, our futures, in His hands. But when we lie—when we try to control by manipulating others with our words—we become an abomination.
It all centers around whether or not we trust Him. If we trust Him, we don’t have to respond with exaggerations (or even lies). We can simply state the truth and let the situation work itself out . . . because the Father is working it out for our good. It may not seem that way at the time, but that’s the nature of trust. Believing in His Word even when we can’t see it with our own eyes.
God delights in us when we trust Him. Don’t you want to be the kind of person He delights in today? I know that I do.
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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