Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Why do people lie?

Why do people lie?
What a great, yet unanswerable, question.
I am an open book...It is the way I try to live my life. After all, I know that there is a GOD and I know that HE watches everything I do, every second of my existence, and there is nothing that I can hide from My FATHER in HEAVEN. HIS judgement of me, and HIS approval and/or disapproval of me is something I fear...Maybe not as much as I should, but enough to keep me forever watching myself.
Therefore, if I can not hide from HIM and I can not lie to HIM, why on earth would I seek to lie to people who do not control my eternity...and where it will be spent? And, yet it is with great concern that I watch and listen to people who, on a daily basis, lie about all kinds of things...some silly, some very serious...And these very people claim to be Christians, claim to love and know GOD.
How can that be?
How can a person know GOD and then turn around and lie to their friends and family?
Do they think they are hiding something, that perhaps GOD won't see? DO they really think that lying doesn't count in the grand scheme of things?
As for me, I would rather have no friends than have friends that lie to me...I don't care if it's just because they are wanting sympathy, or wanting me to take their sides, or just wanting to have a reason to talk...(gossip!).
Truth is, I don't have the time or the energy to listen to and maybe be upset over something a friend tells me that eventually turns out to be a lie.
That's just a low blow, if I've ever had one!

My mother thinks it is better to conceal a truth with a lie...Because often the truth has consequences that effect many innocent people and a lie would keep everything on an even keel. "Don't rock the boat" would be my mother's motto.
I AM NOT LIKE MY MOTHER!
Years ago there was an older man who was a family friend and this man begin making advances, sexual in nature, towards me. I loved his wife deeply as she was not only a dear friend, but a mother figure to me. Once the man started the advances, I stopped visiting his wife because I did not want to take the chance of being anywhere near the man. Once day the wife came to our home where I was living with my parents. She asked me, point blank, if her husband had been making passes at me. I loved the wife and told her the truth...You don't lie to your friends and loved ones! She was upset and angry at her husband...Not at me! After she left, my mother had a conniption fit and berated me because I told the truth. She said I should have lied.
Why? So that he could continue his insulting behavior? Fact is, his wife already knew something was wrong, or why else would she have asked me about it? The couple divorced not too long after...Not because of me, but because I was the first person to tell the wife the truth. The man had been doing far worse than simple passes for years, yet no one would tell the wife the truth until she asked me.
But of course, in my neck of the woods I got the blame!!!

Not long ago a man told another man about the shady dealings of a company the first man had formerly worked for. Due to this, the second man did not renew a hefty contract with the shady dealing company. Unfortunately, the employees of that shady company had their hours and pay cut due to the loss of this lucrative contract. Now the first man is blamed for not lying and for the loss of work suffered by employees of the shady dealing company.
The first man is my Dad...Guess I take after Daddy!

I know that there are consequences for our actions...And I know that speaking the truth is not without risk. But I also know that sometimes it takes a strong and courageous person to set things right, and setting things right often means bringing the light to lies told by others, and it's not always pleasant. But at the end of the day, when I lay myself down to sleep I can rest peacefully knowing that I told the truth.
Besides, if you strive to be honest and always speak the truth, it is so much easier to remember...And I believe that GOD rewards us for being honest.

So, if you want my friendship you need to be ready to accept that fact that I'm not going to lie to you...And you had best not lie to me!
While I have the honesty thing going well for me, GOD and I are still working vehemently on my temper:)
Be blessed and be truthful!

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