“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:9, 10).
Do you always tell your children the truth? Yesterday my son asked me a question about something I had done in the past. I was tempted not to tell him the whole truth about what had happened because I was ashamed of my actions. Then I remembered what the Bible says:
“Do not lie to each other.”
Someone I know told me that they caught their mother in a lie. She told them something and then when she thought they weren’t listening she told another person the true story. My friend told me she is not sure she can ever really trust her mother again.
I heard a friend tell a lie. Now I don’t know whether to believe him or not about anything. I am afraid to confide in him. The lie he told someone else has totally destroyed his relationship with me.
Lies do bad things. They promote unreality. They make people suspicious and destroy credibility. Lies hurt.
Truth can hurt too. But if you tell the truth, you can rely on God to help heal the hurts. You can also know that even if what you did was bad, at least you are not making it worse by lying about it.
If you want your children to trust you, you must always tell them the truth. If they catch you in a lie once, they may never completely trust you again. Nothing is worth that, is it?
Kimberly Snider is a missionary to the Philippines.
From “Moments for Moms,” a free email subscription.
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