I was wondering about lying. Let’s say my wife tells me just want to look at my hobby and my response is no, but I say it in a very playful way — a way that she knows that I am playing and that I really mean that yes I was wanting to look at my hobby. Since we know each other well enough, and she can tell and knows the difference since it was only a joke and there were no other persons around just her and I, does that still constitute a lie?<\/p>\n\t
What you are asking is for your wife to read your mind with 100% accuracy — something no one can do. “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?<\/em>” (I Corinthians 2:11). She might miss the clues you give to say you are joking. To make sure there is no misrepresentation, after having your joke, it should be followed up with exactly what you meant. “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, “I was only joking!” <\/em>” (Proverbs 26:18-19). Saying that it was a joke after the fact comes across as a lame cover-up even when it is the truth.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I was wondering about lying. Let’s say my wife tells me just want to look at my hobby and my response is no, but I say it in a very playful way — a way that she knows that I am playing and that I really mean that yes I was wanting to look…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[707,392],"class_list":["post-31346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-jokes","tag-lying"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16091,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-say-something-that-is-not-true-when-joking\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to say something that is not true when joking?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sometimes when I\u2019m joking, I will mostly say jokes like \"There's a cockroach on your shoulder!\" when there isn\u2019t. I like to use sarcasm too. Are these jokes counted as sin? Is sarcasm bad? Answer: Lying is always wrong. \"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-joking-lying\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":1},"title":"Is joking lying?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Jeffrey, I was reading your\u00a0articles on lying and it got me to thinking about something. Is joking or teasing lying? For instance, if someone asks me what I do for a living and as a joke I say I \"push semi-trucks with my hands\" for a living as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-remarry-after-divorcing-his-wife-for-her-admitted-adultery-only-to-find-out-decades-later-that-she-lied-to-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":2},"title":"Can a man remarry after divorcing his wife for her admitted adultery only to find out decades later that she lied to him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Lord's church, he is not (although he has been studying and attending services with me). I was engaged to him until I contacted his ex-wife to inquire about what ended their marriage. I wanted to make sure his claim that she committed adultery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-pranks-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":3},"title":"Are pranks sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just wanted to ask whether pranks are a sin. I'm aware of the passage in Proverbs 26:19 where it states we shouldn't lie and then say we are joking. Does that mean all pranks are sinful? Thank you very much. Answer: \"Like a madman who throws firebrands,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-all-lying-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":4},"title":"Is all lying bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This question is about lying. Is lying in all views, such as white lies or small lies, a sin? Is there such a thing as using a lie to help someone? I can't think of a good example now, but I do hope you know what I mean. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-told-my-wife-i-had-inappropriate-conversations-with-a-woman-but-i-didnt-mention-i-had-sex-with-her-my-wife-thinks-im-lying-must-i-tell-her-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":31346,"position":5},"title":"I told my wife I had inappropriate conversations with a woman, but I didn’t mention I had sex with her. My wife thinks I’m lying. Must I tell her everything?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've confessed to my wife for having inappropriate conversations with a woman in church five years ago.\u00a0 Now what I haven't told her is that I had a sexual relationship with her.\u00a0 She has asked if I kissed or had sex with her and I chose not to answer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}