I lied for several years about something, and the substance of the lie is probably known by many people in college. It was just something to help my image; however, I recognize sin is sin. It is likely not criminal or anything of a serious kind.<\/p>\n
Do I need to confess to everyone, some of my close friends, or what? I want to do what is right. I have stopped perpetuating it. I want to be right with the Lord. I am now considered\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0concerned with being honest, to the point that I sometimes rephrase things several times to make sure I am honest and say things like “I think” and “sometimes.”<\/p>\n Thanks for the help!<\/p>\n\t “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter<\/em>” (II Corinthians 7:10-11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What you want to make sure of is that you are not benefiting from your lie and that others are not being harmed by relying on your lie. This is what Zacchaeus did. When Zacchaeus repented of his sins, he offered to give back or give away any unjust profits that he might have made. “Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold” <\/em>” (Luke 19:8). In this way, he did not profit from his sins and he tried to make sure none were harmed by his sins either.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I lied for several years about something, and the substance of the lie is probably known by many people in college. It was just something to help my image; however, I recognize sin is sin. It is likely not criminal or anything of a serious kind. Do I need to confess to everyone, some…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[392],"class_list":["post-42203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-lying"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50642,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-do-right-but-i-am-weak\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":0},"title":"I want to do right, but I am weak","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am writing to you about my life. I am in my forties. I have always known that I am a complete sinner. I want to do good, but weakness gets in my way. When I was young I was introduced to pornography. Recently I walked away from\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":29848,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-tell-a-lie-to-someone-you-barely-know-will-you-go-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":1},"title":"If you tell a lie to someone you barely know, will you go to hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Well, I don't know why, but I said I hated the Bible. Right after I said that I got worried and started to say I didn't mean it! I feel so horrible and scared. The second is that if I lied to someone I barely knew, will God forgive\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":46827,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-keep-having-sex-with-my-boyfriend-will-god-keep-forgiving-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":2},"title":"I keep having sex with my boyfriend. Will God keep forgiving me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I don't even know where to start. (Deep breath) Well, I have been going to church for five years. I met this guy who isn't Christian, and we have been together two years. We have been having sex all this time. Every time I feel worse. I ask\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":37955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/in-a-weak-moment-i-was-sexting-how-do-i-get-back-on-the-right-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":3},"title":"In a weak moment, I was sexting. How do I get back on the right path?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need to forgive myself and move on. I have been a Christian for over 30 years and married nearly that long. In a weak moment, I was sex texting with someone I know. I've stopped! But my secret is eating at me and there it will stay.\u00a0 Can\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":22926,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-godly-sorrow-and-how-can-a-wheelchair-bound-person-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":4},"title":"What is godly sorrow and how can a wheelchair-bound person be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I plan to be baptized as soon as I feel that I have properly obeyed the prerequisite commands to baptism: Hear the gospel, believe the gospel, repent of past sins, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of\u00a0 God, and after being baptized remaining faithful until death. Which\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":34300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-knew-it-was-wrong-but-i-committed-adultery-will-god-forgive-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":42203,"position":5},"title":"I knew it was wrong, but I committed adultery. Will God forgive me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I've been a Christian for eight years. I read my Bible and know what to do and what not to do in regards to being a Christian. Recently I committed adultery for the first time in my entire life. I'm feeling bad and guilty of such an act.\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\/42203","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=42203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n