What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words

I am so excited!!!! I wasn't sure even which thread to put this on, since we've currently got 4 of them that are so interrelated, but I think this is the most appropriate one so I'll put it here.

I've been studying all day on the theme of our thoughts, our words, our emotions, and the fear of the Lord. I have to confess that I've been having a really hard time at stopping swearing. Mainly because I haven't been allowing myself to "replace" the words. With nothing to replace them with, it's kind of left me floundering so I asked the Lord to help and show me what to do. He just showed me and I'm so excited! He used something that most would think is totally unrelated lol, but it's perfect!

I had read a devotional a while ago that dealt with how our Lord dealt with emotional pain when His heart was troubled and when He was crucified. It really hit home with me because I live with constant pain. When dealing with his emotional pain, he didn't lash out, he didn't complain, he didn't swear. He prayed and when He spoke, this is what He said:

John 12:28 Father, glorify your name!”

Well, I've been sitting here studying all this time and naturally the pain in my back had gotten worse. My cat came and insisted I take a break to give her her treats and when I stood up the pain shot through me like an arrow and I swore in my mind. I guess that's better then saying it out loud, but not to me, so I immediately told the Lord I was sorry and asked His forgiveness and He immediately reminded me of that devotional. That's when it hit me! I can use that for swearing as well as pain!

What's really strange and why I know this was from the Lord, is because I've honestly never used a swear word or replacement swear if you will because of the pain before! It's just never happened in the last 10 years. But for it to happen now when I've been studying so hard and praying for the Lord to help me learn how to conquer this with His help, was just too perfect to be a coincidence!

So now, instead of replacing swear words with more innocent words such as "shoot", I can simply say, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" and mean it! That not only prevents me from swearing or using any kind of vulgar or coarse words, but it totally changes my emotions and thoughts immediately!!! So that takes care of the problem of that list of "reasons" and things we're feeling too! What an awesome way to do it! Thank You Lord!!!

This is the list I'm talking about that I posted earlier in this thread for those who don't remember:

• anger
• frustration
• sudden and unexpected pain,
• sudden unexpected fright,
• fright in general
• hurt-hurt feelings
• habit
• for shock effect

Since you all haven't seen that devotional, just so you get a fuller meaning of what my thoughts were when He reminded me of it, I want to share it with you here too.

Receiving one’s self in the fires of sorrow

What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. John 12:27-29 (R.V.).

My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself in the fire of sorrow, He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires. If we try and evade sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be. Sin and sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better. Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self. You cannot receive your self in success, you lose your head; you cannot receive your self in monotony, you grouse. The way to find your self is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be so is another matter, but that it is so is true in the Scriptures and in human experience.

You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that he has ample leisure for you. If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, he has no time for you. If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year

So it looks like I'm going to be both thinking and saying aloud, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" a lot now, and as far as I'm concerned, the more the better! What better thing to do or ask then to ask Him to glorify His Name in whatever pain, anger, hurt, or whatever, that I'm experiencing at the moment? What better way to change my attitude instantly too!

You know, thinking about all this made me realize something else. When our Lord was flogged, tortured and crucified, I would think that if there was ever in this world a legitimate cause for swearing, or using vulgar or coarse language, that would be it! But He didn't! Not one "bad" word came out of our Lord's mouth. In the gospels we can read every word He spoke from that evening at the last supper until the moment He died, and He did not utter any word that would be offensive to use in front of a little child at any time.

I am not by any means trying to be legalistic here or in any of the studies I do. I am very simply presenting what the Bible says as I try to learn from it what His Will is for how I should live, just as He tells us we are to do. I'm not talking about "rules" and "laws" here. Or at least not "only" about those. I don't know about others, but I want to live in such a way that my life here and now is pleasing to my Lord who gave His life for me. Like a little child, I want to please my Heavenly Father and I want Him to be pleased with me! Being obedient to my Lord brings me great joy! It's when I fail Him that I'm miserable and in tears!

It's kind of funny but most people are scared (and so was I) by the passages that tell us that we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross, and that in order to find our lives we have to first lose them.

Mark 8:34-35 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

The reason I say it's kind of funny is because it wasn't until I did begin to give up "my" life, my "self" and live for Him, that I began to consistently experience real joy! It took quite awhile, but I finally realized that when we give up our lives and live for Him instead, that's when He gives us a more abundant life! So what He says really makes sense, because when we lose "our" lives for Him, we begin living more abundantly then we would have ever known was possible before!

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I don't ask anyone to do the things I do, or believe what I believe. I only post my studies to help those who are also on this journey or who might be following behind us later and find this helpful. I try very hard not to post just what I think God's Word is saying, but instead try to post His Word and show people where and how I get what I do from my studies. Not so they'll know I'm "right", but so that others can learn "how to study" by following the same principals. I know some folks think I post too many scriptures and I have tried to post fewer, but that's why I post so many so people can see the context of them. Scripture must be read in context, not only with the passage and book it's from but with the entire bible for it to make sense.

Ok, enough of that! Time to go get at least something done around here LOL God bless you all and I hope this helps someone else too!

What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words

Re: What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words

I guess one way of determining for sure if you could or not, would be to imagine yourself standing face to face with Jesus, feeling and seeing His total amazing holiness and purity, both of which have been imputed to us and which we are to live by and act on, and imagine yourself using each of those words toward Him in exactly the same manner you would normally use them in your life now.

If you can do that without even flinching or cringing a little, then by all means continue to use them. As for me, I cringe just considering thinking about it! Remember, THIS is who you will be saying those things to:

Revelation 1:12-18 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Daniel 7:9-10 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

Ezekiel 1:25-28 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Exodus 15:11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

That God tells us:

Leviticus 20:7-8 “ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

Ephesians 4:22-5:7 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 

What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words

Re: Complaining & How it all comes together

Is everyone caught up? Ok, the second thread I see running through all of these is what is commonly called "the fear of the Lord". In fact it's been on my mind so very much that I've asked the Lord to teach me that fear. I know we've discussed this before so I looked for the thread and bumped it up for us so any who want to review it can. It's The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom

I did a quick search in the Bible for the phrase "fear the Lord" and came up with 82 hits in 81 verses in the ESV Bible. (I used that one as it generally gives the most accurate information when looking for specific words) The KJV gave 75 hits in 74 verses. Then I tried the phrase "fear God" and got 34 hits in 34 verses.

Here's a couple of examples:

1 Peter 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Revelation 14:7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Luke 12:4-5 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

This verse from 2 Corinthians is often translated "terror of the Lord".

and of course the ones we're most familiar with:

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

What I'm afraid of is that we don't really know what it means to fear the Lord.... it's not REAL to us....or maybe it's just me.... Let's pray that the Lord in His mercy will teach us, guide us, and give us wisdom and discernment about "the fear of the Lord", that we can better serve Him.

Since I asked the Lord to teach me about this I've been noticing something in the bible as I read and study it daily. I noticed before too but I guess I just never related it to this before. All through the bible you see statements like this, very matter of fact, like they thought it was a plain as the nose on their face and needed no explanations:

2 Chronicles 24:18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 24:24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.

2 Chronicles 26:19-20 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.

Nehemiah 4:15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

Nehemiah 2:8 ...And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

Ezra 9:7 From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

Ezra 8:18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, ...

Ezra 6:22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

2 Chronicles 32:22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.

As you can probably tell lol all I did was quickly scroll back through the books I've been reading and copied a few of the verses from them. Did you notice anything similar about all those verses? Let's go back and read them again, only this time, let's imagine that these are things that are happening right now-today. You can even fill in the names with names from our current history if you want.

Are you starting to see what I am? They are describing every day events and major events in their lives, both good and bad and saying that the Lord was responsible for these things and the way things worked out. Can you imagine what that would look like today right here in America? Let's pretend for a moment what that might look like if it did happen here. We might here something like this:

Take the oil spill for example. When some people suggested that it was because of the hand of the Lord they were often ridiculed.

Or how about the weather that's been so crazy and even devastating all over the world this past year and more? Again when someone says that it's the hand of the Lord, people often ridicule them.

If someone suggests that a military win or defeat or stand off is because of the Lord they're ridiculed.

When a ruler actually does something right, who is given credit? Usually it's the people themselves that take the credit. You hear speeches about how "the people won" because "they stood up to the government" etc or other things like that. I don't recall ever hearing it suggested that the Lord changed the governments mind....or that He had any hand in it at all.

When lightening struck the building where the Lutherans were meeting when they decided it was OK to accept gay priests, people laughed at those who suggested God's hand might have had something to do with it.

I guess what I'm beginning to wonder is if just maybe we've become "too civilized". The things like those I mentioned above are always written off as ridiculous, coincidental, and superstitious now days.

Like last week when I went to the grocery store and after not finding something I really needed for 2 months, they finally had it, and I jumped up saying "Thank you Lord!" quite loudly lol There was no doubt in my mind that the Lord was behind the fact that the store had finally stocked that item again, yet I know that many people looked at me as though I'd lost what few wits I still had!

I have continued to ask the Lord to teach me to fear Him so that I can know the "fear of the Lord" so that I can please Him and plan to continue to ask for this.

I'd like to point out one other thing about this too. See how the fear of the Lord is linked here to not complaining and not arguing? (It's also linked in other places with not lying, not worrying, not swearing, etc.)

Philippians 2:12-16 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Those who fear the Lord are not going to swear, lie, worry, grumble, complain etc. They'd be to afraid to do so! You know who I think of when I think of the "fear of the Lord"? Abraham, when he obediently went to sacrifice his son to God. Now that to me is the perfect illustration of the fear of God. Would any of us have been obedient if we heard God telling us to do something like that? I wish with all my heart that I could say that I thought I would be, but I don't. I don't think I would have done it. Why? Don't I love Him enough? Don't I trust Him? I think it's because i don't fear Him enough. That's why I've asked Him to help me work on this.

I can't wait to hear what you all think about this!

Complaining & How it all comes together

Re: Complaining & How it all comes together

I just re-read what I posted yesterday and realize that I really didn't cover how complaining is a sin as thoroughly as I usually do. That's mostly because I'm pretty sure we've covered this before, but I honestly don't remember. It might be that I studied it before and didn't share it here. So if anyone has questions or wants more info about it please feel free to ask.

Now let's try and pull all of those studies together: the ones about taking our thoughts captive and how our thoughts can be sinful; the one about swearing and the one about lies, and finally this about complaining. There are actually several common threads I see running through them all.

The first thread I saw running through all this was that we are to be like little children. You might ask how this relates to the taking our thoughts captive, lies and swearing threads though so I'll try to explain. First let me share one of the verses where Jesus tells us to be like little children:

Matthew 18:3-4 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Let's look for a minute at what characteristics a little child has that the Lord is looking for in us. Here I'm talking about a child of about toddler age who has good loving parents obviously and not someone who's been abused.

First of course a little one loves their parents.

A little child is trusting of their parents. When they have a problem or when they get hurt, they automatically come to their parents, tell them about it and they not only believe that their parents will "fix" it, it doesn't even occur to them that their parents might not! When Mama tells her little one that the doctor is going to give them a shot and that even though it hurts it will help them get better, they trust that their Mama (or daddy) knows what they're talking about and is telling the truth.

A little child believes whatever their parents tell them. If Mama says something's going to happen the next day or whenever, then they expect that's going to happen. It doesn't occur to the little one that Mama might lie.

Little children fear their parents. No, I'm not talking about being fearful as though they think they might get hurt by them. I'm talking about the kind of fear that the bible says is good-godly fear. That kind of fear could translate into meaning having respect for them, love, feeling awe of them, a reverence, a desire to please them, a feeling that they are above them and deserve honor etc. However, there is, as my oldest daughter pointed out to me, an aspect of that fear that does mean "being scared". As she said, a little child wants to please their parents for all the above reasons, but when they don't obey, the do feel afraid because they know that their parent is going to punish them and rightly so.

A little one would never consider not revealing everything to their parents. In fact, they usually can't wait to tell them in every bit as much detail as their vocabularies will allow, all that they've experienced that day. (once they learn to talk, it's getting them to stop that's the problem LOL)

Little children want to please their parents so they mimic their parents and generally obey them too. That's how little ones learn to talk, to walk, to feed themselves etc. They copy their parents and do what their parents tell them to do. Not only that, but they do it joyfully! Can you picture a parent with their arms outstretched to their little one, saying, "come to mama, walk to mama!"; and the little one tries to take their first tentative steps, knowing mama and daddy won't let them get hurt. Notice that the "almost" toddler doesn't require long explanations from their parents about how they really can do this, and that they really should trust them, and they need to be obedient etc.

I'm sure there are more, but I'm running out of time here lol. These are the things our Lord was telling us that we need to go back to being once we're born again. These are the attributes we're to have toward Him and our Heavenly Father. I don't think it was any accident that our Lord told us to call our Heavenly Father, "daddy" either.

Romans 8:15-16 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

The word “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “Father.” It is the diminutive form used by small children in addressing their fathers. It is appropriate to see its similarity to the English word “Daddy.” Used by Christ (cf. Mark 14:36), this familiar form indicates intimacy and trust as opposed to the formalism of legalism.

The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures

Ok, so now let's take those attributes of a child and see how they relate to us in our relationship with God. These attributes of how a little one is toward their parents are describing how our relationship with our heavenly Father should be.

• loves
• Trusts
• Believes
• fears
• reveals everything, doesn't try to hide things
  
• pleases
• mimics
• joyfully obeys

One thing is immediately clear and that's that an unsaved person cannot experience any of these things with God because they don't have a relationship with Him at all. This also shows that it is only through developing a close intimate relationship with Him that we can grow to maturity in Christ. It sounds backwards doesn't it? While the people in the world are striving to "grow up", be independent, be "on their own", etc.; here we are striving to be the opposite! We want to go back to that initial loving, trusting stage; we want to become more dependent, and the more dependent we become, the more "mature" we become LOL

I'm really running out of time today so I'll have to finish this part on Tuesday I'm afraid. Before I go though let me give you all some verses that show how we need these attributes in our relationship with God. That way we'll have something to reflect on till Tuesday anyway!

Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 5:21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.

Proverbs 28:13-14 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Complaining & How it all comes together

Complaining & How it all comes together

I've been thinking about this a lot lately since we've been writing about it and it amazes me how closely these studies are all tied together:

Stress,worry,fear etc & the Christian (condensed)

what is your take on swearing (bible study thread)

Little white lies.....

Thoughts that are sin

So I've been reflecting on this a lot as I said and decided to start a new thread to show some of the ways they all connect.

First let's review just a little.  We've learned so far that it's our thoughts that are the root of our attitudes, feelings and even actions.  We know that's why the Lord tells us we are to guard our hearts.  (the word translated hearts means both our thoughts/minds and our hearts/emotions).  We've learned too that thoughts themselves can be sinful and we've learned what to do with those kind of thoughts. (take them captive and replace them with the truth).  We've learned too that even our feelings can be sinful and since they're caused by our thoughts, we know how to deal with that as well now.  That's really great too because now instead of treating the symptoms of the disease of sin, we're getting to the root of it.

OK, with all that said, what I'd like to do is show you the next piece the Lord added to the puzzle for me which filled it in enough for me to finally see the pattern.

I had been talking to the Lord and realized that what I was really doing was complaining to Him about things.  That immediately reminded me of this verse among others:

Exodus 16:8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

I'm pretty sure that we've discussed this before too, but when we complain about things, even when we're complaining to other people, what we're really doing is complaining against God.  We're telling ourselves, other people and Him that we don't really trust Him, nor do we appreciate our circumstances or how He's arranged things in our lives.  Sounds pretty harsh doesn't it?  I know that I was pretty floored when I first realized that complaining was a sin.  I really really didn't want to accept that, but no matter how I tried to get around it, just like with the lying, swearing, fear and worry, I finally had to admit that His Word was true and that complaining was indeed a sin.

Let's look quickly at how complaining is a sin.

We know that God's Word is true and we know there are some very basic principals that we must believe.  We must believe that God is good and that He loves us; that He loved us enough to die for us so that our sins could be forgiven and we could spend eternity with Him.  We know that we are to trust Him and believe what He tells us.  We know that God is omnipotent, omniscient, perfect, just, righteous, love, truth, merciful, faithful, longsuffering, powerful and wise.

Are you with me so far?  Ok, then let's look at this very familiar passage:

Romans 8:28-32 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

According to this passage, everything that happens to us God uses to work for our good.  It also says that He will do anything for us to help us conform to the image of His son, and that in fact we WILL be conformed to that image one way or another because it is predestined for us to be.  We also know that He hasn't withheld anything from us that we need for this life; It's all right here in His Word:

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

We know too that He actually has plans for us and that nothing happens to us or to anyone by random chance because He is in control.

This is very hard to incorporate into our daily lives though.  We're used to what the world has taught us which is basically that we're either lucky or not.  I remember when my husband got laid off.  We were devastated and it was so easy to complain, to cry and ask "why me Lord?"  In fact it was when I was in the very act of asking Him "why me" that I realized exactly what I was doing.  I wasn't trusting Him!  Remember when Jesus was on trial and what He said?

Matthew 26:53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

And we have these verses and many others that show us that God is in control:

John 3:27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

Jeremiah 27:5-6 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. Now I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.

Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”

Acts 4:27-28 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

So I had to ask myself, if God is in control, what do I have to fear or be upset about?  If God is in control, if He loves me and has plans for me that include a hopeful wonderful future and include me becoming conformed to be like Jesus, then there is nothing to worry about because whenever God says He will do something, it is done.  Period.  There are never any ands ifs or buts about it.  God's will is always done and in our cases, since we're born again, we know what His will for us is.

Isaiah 55:11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 46:11 ... What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

Now, if we truly believe all this, then what do we have to complain about?  Nothing at all because everything is being used to work toward our good and the wonderful future He has planed for us. If we do complain or grumble about it though then we are saying that we really don't believe these things.  That God isn't trustworthy, that He really doesn't love us or care about the things we're going through, and that we really know better then He does what's good for us, etc.  That my friend is once again a sin.  We are literally calling God a liar and a cheat.  We are being idolatrous and prideful by saying that there are things and or people or even ourselves that are more powerful, more wise, more loving etc then God.  We are being hypocrites as well and I'm sure if we really sat here and thought about it, we could come up with a number of other sins as well.  One big one is that we are once again demanding that God prove to us (by doing whatever it is WE think is right) that He is good and loving and just.  We are insisting on living by sight rather then by faith.  Obviously none of these thoughts, feelings or the actions and words that come from them are from faith. 

Romans 14:23 ... and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Please know that I do not mean to imply that I have conquered this sin.  I wish I could say that I have, but I haven't.  Since I live with chronic pain daily, I've certainly have a lot of opportunities for practice though.  I've gotten to the point where I recognize it as sin, and confess and repent of it when I catch myself.  I've even gotten to the point now where I'm catching it more quickly then I used to, and am able to bring my thoughts back into alignment with His Word.  That's gratifying and I know it's only because of the Lord's help that I've gotten that far; but I still have a long way to go.  Just knowing that every time I start to complain, I have an opportunity to practice aligning myself with God's Will helps though because I can see that the more I apply His Word to my life, the more I slowly but surely become conformed to the likeness of His Son my Lord and what greater reward could there be then that?

Now that we've covered the complaining part, tomorrow we can look at how this last piece of the puzzle pulls it all together!

Complaining & How it all comes together

Re: Little white lies....

Here's one last way to look at this whole subject. Forgive me if I've already said this, but sometimes I can't remember which part of the studies I've written down here and which parts are just in my personal notes.

Take a look at this verse:

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was 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.

By that verse alone (and there are many others) we can easily see that lying-any and all kinds of lies, is from Satan and not from God. Lying is something humans come by naturally. Think about it...have you ever known of any parent that had to teach their child to lie? I sure haven't! No, we have to teach them to tell the truth because lying comes naturally from their sin nature.

Then we have this verse:

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Here we are shown again one of God's attributes. God is truth, just as God is love. Satan is the opposite of God. Now that we know God is truth we know that in order to be like Him, we too must be the truth as much as we can be. We can't do it on our own though because just as we had to teach our children to tell the truth, we need our Daddy to teach us to tell the truth ALL the time. So He then tells us:

John 14:15-17 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

He gives us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit is also God and being God, He too is Truth just as Jesus and the Father are Truth.

John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

God will never ever guide us to go against His own written Word. Never! Not for any reason! That is one Truth that we can stand on all our lives and use to test things to see if they're from God or not. If someone tries to tell us that God told them to lie, we can instantly know that they have been badly deceived because God cannot go against Himself and God is Truth.

I'm afraid that there is simply no way to get around the fact that any and all lies are a sin, regardless of why the lies are told, where they're told, how they're told or anything else we can think up as an excuse.

This is yet another area where we who have been born again are different from the world. The unsaved hate to be told they've done something wrong and will instantly defend themselves and make excuses for what they've done. However as we mature we begin to want to know what our sins are. We want to know them so we can stop doing them because we want above all else to please our Lord. We love Him and don't want to disappoint him or hurt Him. Therefore we generally are pleased in a way when we discover something that we've been doing is a sin. We're not pleased we've been sinning but are pleased that we now understand that it's a sin and can ask our Father's help in overcoming it. We can then praise Him because we know He will never turn us down when we ask for help to please Him!

I'm not saying that those of us who are born again don't ever get defensive when we learn something we do is a sin; sometimes we do that too, but we do it for a different reason then the world does. The world does it because they want to be right. We do it because the thought that we might be displeasing our Lord is so horrible to us that we often don't want to admit it our guilt at first.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately since we've been writing about it and it amazes me how closely these studies are all tied together:

Stress,worry,fear etc & the Christian (condensed)

what is your take on swearing (bible study thread)

Little white lies.....

Thoughts that are sin

So I've been reflecting on this a lot as I said and I think what I'd like to do is start a new thread to show how they all connect.

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Re: Little white lies.....

I wanted to bring this over from the other thread for those who haven't seen it:

Quote:

I find it hard to believe that God would want us to help a criminal do harm or kill someone as in the scenario I shared. I doubt I would do it and I sure hope someone would lie if I was the one being chased. Something just doesn't seem right about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cindy What you're saying then really is that you're trusting in the lie, and the person doing the lying and not God. God does not approve of anyone's lies in the Old Testament and He did not tell us it was Ok to lie in some instances. This is a difficult thing for sure which is why I brought it up. It's one thing to say that "little white lies" are wrong (which they definitely are) but when we continue and say that a lie told to "try and save someone's life" is wrong and a sin, most people do have trouble accepting that. (I don't recall any of the apostles or early Christians lying to save their lives or the lives of their children even) But what it comes down to in the long run is do we believe God's Word or man's philosophy? Do we trust man or God? Do we really really believe that God says what He means and means what He says? We aren't told to live by the worlds standards but by God's standards. It's not easy and I doubt if any could do it without His help, but that's the great part, because when we decide to follow Him and obey at any cost, then He takes over and does the rest. That's when verses like these come into play: Matthew 10:19-20 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. I don't think the Holy Spirit is going to direct anyone to lie. If someone said He did, we'd know they were lying because God doesn't lie nor does He ever tell us to. John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. We aren't saved by lies, or by any effort of our own or of others even, but by God. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. It's in times like this where we have to decide to obey God or sin and lie that we see just how much we really trust Him. It reminds me of the story of David and his friends. They stuck to God and never lied to get out of the trouble the Babylonian officials were always trying to get them into. It would have been very easy to lie but they didn't, and God saved them. However we have to be like they were and decide ahead of time that obeying God is more important to us regardless of whether or not He saves us. That's why I've always loved this statement they made to the King during one of those times: Daniel 3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” I hope and pray that I can grow up to be that strong and mature in my faith!

Quote:

How about Rahab and Michal and David. All told lies. As did the prophet who led the armies away from their correct destination. ( I'l try to find it if the story doesn't come to mind) Rahab lied about the spies. Michal lied about David. Both to save lives. David lied when running from Saul and took and ate the shewbread. I am not defending lieing just wondering if it is permissible.

Is God a liar then? Does He really go against His own Word? If it ok for us to lie under some circumstances then we might as well just throw the bible in the trash because it's useless as it doesn't tell the truth if it contradicts itself. I'm just going to quote some commentaries so people will see that it's not just me saying this.

Joshua 2:4-6 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

Was Rahab wrong to lie since her falsehood protected the spies? Are there some situations in which a lie is acceptable?

After all, some say, this was a cultural matter, for Rahab was born and raised among the depraved Canaanites among whom lying was universally practiced. She probably saw no evil in her act. Further, if she had told the truth the spies would have been killed by the king of Jericho.

But such arguments are not convincing. To argue that the spies would certainly have perished if Rahab had been truthful is to ignore the option that God could have protected the spies in some other way. To excuse Rahab for indulging in a common practice is to condone what God condemns. Paul quoted a prophet of Crete who said that Cretans were inveterate liars, and then added, ”This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith“ (Titus 1:13). The lie of Rahab was recorded but not approved. The Bible approved her faith demonstrated by good works (Heb. 11:31),but not her falsehood.

The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures

2:5I do not know:The NT commends Rahab for her faith, not her falsehood (see Heb. 11:31). James mentions her together with Abraham as an example of good works (see James 2:25). The Open Bible

But the visit also meant the salvation of Rahab and her family. Although the Bible does not commend Rahab for her lies, it does commend her faith (Heb. 11:31) that revealed itself in works (James 2:25). Her faith saved her and her family from destruction (Josh. 6:17–19), and it resulted in her becoming an ancestress of the Messiah (Matt. 1:5). Once you begin to trust God and obey Him, you never know what He will do!

With the word Bible commentary

2:4 Lying is never justifiable; but in this case, because of Rahab’s immature faith, it is understandable.

Spirit filled life study Bible

First, Rahab was a pagan woman living in a pagan society. The degree of ethical consciousness displayed by the early Phoenicians and Caneanites was very low indeed. No doubt Rahab was absolutely unaware that telling this lie was a sin. She was humanly no more concerned over this falsehood than she was over her own occupation. Secondly, nowhere do we find a reference that either the spies, or later Joshua, ever condoned this lie. A lie by any other name, even if it is little and white, is nevertheless a lie. The spies did not ask Rahab to lie for them, nor did they commend her for this action. Thirdly, although there appears to be seedlike faith in Rahab, nevertheless there is no clear reference to her faith in the true God of Israel until after the lie was told. The deception, which was almost matter-of-factly and routinely carried out, was not at all ethically troublesome to Rahab before her confession of faith in Jehovah. One can only assume that the situation would have been different after that confession. KJV Bible commentary.

1 Samuel 21:1-3 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know—This was a direct falsehood, extorted through fear. David probably supposed, like many other persons, that a lie is quite excusable which is told for the sole purpose of saving the speaker’s life. But what is essentially sinful, can never, from circumstances, change its immoral character; and David had to repent of this vice of lying (Ps 119:29). Psalm 119:29-30 Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments.

Deception. It is disappointing to see David depending on lies for protection. He lied to the priest and to the king, but he could not lie to Doeg: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). Whenever you think you have “pulled off” a smart deal, you will find a Doeg ready to give you trouble (1 Sam. 22:9ff.; see also Ps. 52).
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Prov. 12:22).

Is It Ever Right to Lie?
Scripture commands us to tell the truth and warns about the consequences of lying. Jesus is our example, for there was no deceit in His mouth (1 Pet. 2:22). We must always speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). If our telling the truth endangers others, silence is our best response. When David ran ahead of God, he found himself in trouble and lied. The safest thing is to stay away from those situations and to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”
With the word Bible commentary.

And this commentary points out the consequences of David's sin of lying:

David resorted to deception at this point is not clear. He may have responded in panic either to get Ahimelech to supply his needs and/or to protect the priest from later accusations concerning knowledge of David’s flight. The brief mention of Doeg anticipated his future merciless role (1 Sam. 22:18, 19). In the twisted mind of the rejected king the presence of David at Nob and the help Ahimelech gave David seemed a conspiracy against the king (1 Sam. 22:8, 13, 16, 17). With total contempt for the priesthood, Saul called for death of the priests (1 Sam. 22:16–18). His Israelite servants refused such a heinous order, but there was no hesitancy on the part of the Edomite, Doeg (1 Sam. 20:18), who extended the massacre to all Nob as a city under the ban (see 1 Sam. 15:3, note). This was a further fulfillment of the prophecy against Eli’s house (1 Sam. 2:31–33; 4:11, 18; 1 Kin. 2:26, 27). When David learned of the disaster through its only survivor, Abiathar, he confessed that he was ultimately responsible for it. This is a tragic example of how sin affects others. David assured Abiathar safety because David was sure of divine protection (1 Sam. 22:23)
1 Samuel 22:20-23 But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David. He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. Then David said to Abiathar: “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family. Stay with me; don’t be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me.”
Woman's study Bible

There are actually many more instances of lying in the bible. Just as there are many instances of adultery, idolatry and every other sin. I seriously doubt any of us would say that adultery was ok in certain circumstances or attempt to say that God thinks it is either. Why then do we attempt to say so about lying? One of the things atheists love to say is that God approves of polygamy because that's in the bible. Well I'm sorry to let them down, but God doesn't approve it it either. Yes, it's in the bible, just like lying, adultery, stealing, idolatry, and murder, but God approves of no sin for any reason. The people in the Bible however are human just like we are and they all sinned-every single last one of them, just as we do. That is what the bible records, God doesn't approve of any sin.

 

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Re: Little white lies.....

Guys, I'm not saying that I never told a "little white lie", of course I have! I don't anymore because now I know it's a sin, but I did before then. What isn't good is for people to make excuses for their sins or to say or think that "God will understand because He knows my heart". Yes He will understand, and Yes, He does know our hearts. He also knows our hearts are black and deceitful and that lying is a sin that shouldn't be accepted.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Matthew 15:18-20 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’;

Romans 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

I realized that at least for me that when I began making excuses for my sins and say things like that, it showed a lack of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is something that's really almost alien to our generation. Those of us who are saved really have to work on that with the help of the Lord. It gets harder too because of all the tolerance that's preached and the "God is love" stuff too. Yes, God IS love, but our very definition of "love" is different now then what God calls "love". Love isn't someone saying, "oh you can do whatever you want because I love you". Tolerance isn't love! We often forget this one little line about love too:

1 Corinthians 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Please know that when I say "we" I really do mean "me" or "I" because I'm really talking about myself and my own experiences and what I've seen and learned. But let me go spend some time with the Lord and then I'll come back and write some more.

When someone asks a question such as "does this dress make me look fat" or whatever, by telling them the truth gently and with love in a diplomatic way, we are giving them the opportunity to deal with the truth instead of hiding behind a lie. Would you want someone to tell you your zipper was down or would you prefer to go around in public all day with it down because people were afraid to tell you the truth? It's always better to tell the truth and to trust God then to lie and cover up the truth in darkness. I know that my husband hasn't gotten the hang of this about clothing yet. I could care less if something makes me look fat LOL but I'm not always sure if some things go together well so I'll ask him. I want the truth! That's WHY I'm asking so that I can go change before someone else sees me! Most of the problem is though that Bruce can't tell either LOL so he always pleads the 5th!

Little white lies.....

I saw an article yesterday which reminded me of the question, "are little white lies a sin"? I thought it would be a great topic for a bible study because ultimately it doesn't matter one little bit what any of us think about the subject. The only thing that matters is what God thinks about the subject.

I know many Christians are going to see this story and think it's wonderful but that one little part really bothers me and I have to wonder how many others will see it, and if they do, how many will consider it a lie? Here is a link to that thread for any who haven't seen it yet:

Jesus saves Broward storekeeper from a robbery (is it OK to lie?)

I remember my first experience on a Christian message board. It was several years before I started FH. Someone on the board was asking for advice about what she should tell her mother about something. Now this was an adult, a married woman, asking for the advice. She didn't live with her parents anymore either. What she wanted to do was tell them a lie. In her opinion it was a "little white lie" and she didn't really think God would mind... I was totally shocked at the responses she got from fellow Christians! It was quite a long thread already, with well over 30 replies and every single one of them agreed that it was perfectly OK to tell a little white lie. (which is what this woman in the story said could be referred to as)

I just couldn't believe it. So I posted and tried to say in as gentle a manner as I could that lying was never an option for a Christian and tried to explain why. Boy, talk about being flamed! There was nothing left of me but ash when those folks were done with me! I prayed about it and never posted on that thread again. I felt I had said what the Lord had wanted and it was up to them to each deal with it they way they wanted to. That experience though so profoundly affected me that I never forgot about it and it's one of the reasons I started FH.

So let's begin by looking to see just what God's Word has to say about this subject:

Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

Leviticus 19:11 .... ‘Do not lie. “ ‘Do not deceive one another.

Psalm 34:13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

1 Peter 3:10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

We can easily see from all of the above that we are not to lie, that's obvious. What about little white lies though? I remember when I asked someone about this myself when I was a teen. Their reply to me was to go back through my bible and see if i could find any "if"s, "and"s or "but"s in those verses. In other words, no where in God's Word do we see the Lord saying, "don't lie "unless it's to prevent hurting another persons feelings". Or don't lie "unless you have to in order to save your life". Or, "don't lie "unless you have to save someone else's life".

Those are usually the 3 big excuses we come up with to excuse our lies. We often even believe that we're doing the right thing when we do that and can even come up with verses such as to do all things in love etc that kind of back it up. Let's look then and see what else we can find out about lying, falsehood, and the truth to see just where we should draw the line.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was 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.

This seems to make it plain that any lie since there are no qualifiers in that verse, is a sin and is therefore coming from our sin nature and under the province of Satan.

Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Again there are no qualifiers here. This doesn't say, "except for people who just tell little white lies". So this too shows us that lying is of Satan, it is a sin and is something we're not to do under any circumstance.

Psalm 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.

This is just one of many but I wanted to post it to remind us that God's way is often called the "way of truth". Do you really think that the way of truth includes little white lies?

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Not only are God's ways called the way of truth, but God is truth, just as Jesus Himself said in the verse above.

3 John 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

In the above verses we're told not to imitate the things of Satan and we've already seen that he is the father of lies, so we can be pretty sure that even little white lies come under this.

Ephesians 5:8-11 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Again we're reminded that we need to put off our old selves and put on our new selves. We are to live in the truth and speak only the truth. One of the characterizations of truth is that it sets the person free, while darkness (lies) puts chains on a person. The Lord will always honor us when we are obedient and speak the truth even if it might cost us our own lives or the life of someone we love. He knows how hard it is for us to trust Him so when we are obedient and choose to trust Him and speak the truth anyway, He will never let us down!

Did you catch that? That's the root of the sin when we lie to save someone's life, even our own, what we're doing is saying that we don't trust God to handle the situation unless we are disobedient. We're saying that God's ways aren't good, aren't trustworthy and don't work! Where is our trust and our faith? We're putting it in ourselves instead of in God and looking mostly to "luck" as well! That doesn't sound at all like the way God wants us to live!

Then there's the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira when they lied to Peter about how much they sold their property for. They wanted to keep some of the money for themselves instead of giving all of it to the apostles to be used for everyone. There was noting wrong with their desire to do so and if they had told simply told the truth, that they were keeping some for themselves and giving X to the church there would have been no problem. To some this too could have been considered a little white lie. It cost them their lives though so I don't think God thought of it that way!

Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

The words translated "filled" in "filled your heart" means "controlled or influenced" so we see again that lies are from Satan and not of God at all, no matter what kind of lie it is.

Ananias sinned against the Holy Spirit of God by lying. The sin was not one of being stingy; Ananias and his wife simply wanted to appear more generous than they were, possibly as generous as Barnabas who had sold some land and brought the proceeds to the apostles (4:36, 37). Sudden death for both husband and wife, within three hours of each other, seems to some to be harsh judgment for their “little white lies.” Believer's Study Bible.

In many places besides the above story the bible teaches us that when we sin, it is God we are rally sinning against and not other people:

Psalm 51:3-4 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Considering all of these things, I really don't think it's wise to be telling even "little white lies"!

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