Acts 5:3

New King James Version

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?

For Encouragement

Why do most people consider a lie okay to tell? Why is it deemed understandable by God when told to get out of trouble? Is lying less sinful or grievous to the Lord than others, such as sexual sins? So, would most people pride themselves as good Christians because they don’t fornicate or kill, but continue to lie without a thought?

It reminds me of two children who argued about a fib, a lie, and a story. “A fib is the same as a story, and a story is the same as a lie,” Akua said. Janet disagreed, but Akua insisted it was the same because her father said so, and he is a Newspaper Editor.

“I don’t care if your father is an editor! My father is a real-estate man, and he knows more about lying than your father,” Janet said. So, who is the big liar here?

Lying has become a normal lifestyle. We lie to get our way with others, get what we want, avoid losing a favor, secure a job or contract, appear impressive, ruin reputations, mislead others, and more. Afterwards, we pat ourselves on the back, thinking we’re clever or great speakers. What’s wrong with us?

Dr. Charles Gilkey, from Chicago, sat by the fireside, leading a family worship. He read a passage from Psalm 116:11, where the psalmist mentioned that he said in his haste that all men are liars. Then he remarked:

David said this in haste, but if he had brooded over it, he couldn’t have come nearer the truth. He wouldn’t have had any reason to change his mind.

That’s the pity of today! It shows how normal lying has become.  

Why do we forget God takes lying seriously and punishes it harshly?

You know the story of Eve and the Serpent and its consequence. Ananias and Sapphira tried it on Peter and received their due penalty (Acts 5:1-10). Many Christians miss the lesson from Peter’s rebuke:

When we lie, we show Satan has filled our hearts and led us to test the Spirit of the Lord (9). Do you then realize the seriousness of lying?

Satan has conveniently dulled our senses to the fact that we speak his language when we lie. As Jesus told His opponents:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He is a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

How, then, can we claim to be children of the Most High and continue to speak the native language of the devil?

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1:5-6).

Since Jesus is truth and Satan is the father of lies, who do we honor when we lie?

Pray With Me

Help us, Lord, to always let truth undergird our lions to hold together, every aspect of our lives as a testimony to your glorious name, amen.