by R. Colleen

Created on: February 21, 2009

It was for her benefit, not mine, that I told just a little white lie. She would be too hurt if I told her the truth. That has been my justification for lying - to protect the feelings of others. A noble cause at first glance. My initial conclusion was that my dishonesty had its origin in the reaction of others. They controlled my ability to be honest. They set me up to lie. They put me in a no-win situation - tell a lie and fall into sin or tell the truth and damage a relationship.

Being a Christian, naturally my first stop was the Scriptures. And Rahab, the harlot. After all, she helped Joshua's spies and saved the lives of her family and herself (see Joshua 2:1-24 and Joshua 6:17-25). She is counted as one of the faithful in Hebrews and is used as an example in James. She is also in the lineage of Jesus. And she was used by God! She lied to protect these men. Wouldn't it, therefore, stand to reason that telling a lie to protect someone's feelings is acceptable? Ahhhhh!, sweet justification!

One problem. Not only had I been looking for justification, I had fallen into the trap of a "works"-based theology. As long as I appeared
honest before men (and, for the most part, I figured I was more honest than a lot of others I could name!), it would be added to my heavenly account.

Okay, another problem. Other Scriptures are very clear that lying is an abomination to God, half-truths are dishonest, it is a device of the wicked and it will be uncovered by God. As painful as it was, I realized being honest with God was my first priority. Any hope of skirting around the other things God says about lying flew out the window.

A lie, by the very definition of the word, means to intentionally give the wrong impression or purposefully deceive. The truth, on the other hand, is defined by not only fact but sincerity and integrity.

Now, I'm not stupid. I am fully aware of the fact that if I try to lie to God, I am only deceiving myself and my fellowship with Him suffers. He knows where I try to hide all the dirty little secrets of my heart. Sometimes I pretend they really don't exist but any time I place myself before God, naked, they come out! I came to a place where I had to stand, vulnerable, before God and agree with Him as each black area was exposed.

Taking an honest appraisal of my heart from God is one thing but do I really want honesty from people? Sure, most of the time. But there are exceptions. Like when I ask my husband if I look fat in a particular dress. What if he

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