What happens when you lie?

Answer:

Imagine for a moment a world where everyone lied constantly. In such a world, you would never be able to trust anything that anyone said to you. There would be no schools because no one would believe anything the teacher said. There would be no business because you would never be able to trust your suppliers or customers to carry out their part of the bargains. There would be no marriages because marriage is based on a covenant (Malachi 2:14) and you would not be able to trust your spouse to remain faithful for a moment. Ultimately, love would not exist in such a world because love is founded on trust. "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (I Corinthians 13:4-8).

Such a world could not last long. Trust is the bases of all our relationships. Without trust, there would be no faith in God because believing God means we trust Him to fulfill all that He has promised. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). When Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin, he did so by undermining their trust in what God had said. "Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."" (Genesis 3:4-5). All that Satan does is built on lies because lies destroy the foundation God has laid down. "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44).

Good cannot be accomplished by the means of evil. Righteousness is not created by telling someone a lie. Christianity is a religion of truth. "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:17). Any lie that you tell undermines your position with God and your fellow man. How can a Christian who lies tell his fellow man about the promises of God? Why would they be inclined to believe such a person?

Ultimately, the consequence of lying is hell. "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:7-8). "All" doesn't leave any wiggle room. God hates lying.