We’ve all lied or we’re lying about never lying. And from experience we know that one lie can easily lead to many more. So I can confidently say you’ve been a liar liar pants on fire, but have to admit my jeans have burn marks too. But lying is a sin so severe it’s not something we should make fun of or take lightly is it? In fact, it’s awful and we should hate it.

If you’ve ever been deceived by a slick salesperson or misleading mechanic, led astray by a false teacher, had your identity stolen and used, your account hacked and fake messages sent, burned by a dishonest boss or employee, falsely accused or slandered, deceived by a seemingly trustworthy friend or family member, or one of the hardest – lied to by your spouse, child, or teenager, you know the damage, distrust, disruption, anger, frustration and anguish that can be generated by a single lie – no matter the perceived color of the lie.

So what does the Bible say about lying? 

1. A Liar Hates

Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart (Proverbs 26:24).

A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin (Proverbs 26:28).

2. There Are Consequences To Lying

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit (Proverbs 12:17).

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish (Proverbs 19:9).

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue (Proverbs 17:4).

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy (Proverbs 12:19-20).

3. God Hates Lying

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16).

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator (Colossians 3:9-10). 

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight (Proverbs 12:22)

There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Of the seven things God hates in Proverbs 6, notice how lying is mentioned twice, but it can be applied to all seven in the form of lying or believing a lie.

4. A Liar is a Liar Because of The Liar

It all goes back to Genesis:

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:4-6).

When Jesus was speaking to the Jews who wouldn’t believe He said:

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).”

William Blake (1757-1827) references that infernal serpent lending his forked tongue in his poem The Liar. After reading it, I can’t help but wonder if the serpent’s tongue can be borrowed so often he eventually says, “you don’t need mine, you already own one.”

The Liar
Deceiver, dissembler
Your trousers are alight
From what pole or gallows
Shall they dangle in the night?

When I asked of your career
Why did you have to kick my rear
With that stinking lie of thine
Proclaiming that you owned a mine?

When you asked to borrow my stallion
To visit a nearby-moored galleon
How could I ever know that you
Intended only to turn him into glue?

What red devil of mendacity
Grips your soul with such tenacity?
Will one you cruelly shower with lies
Put a pistol ball between your eyes?

What infernal serpent
Has lent you his forked tongue?
From what pit of foul deceit
Are all these whoppers sprung?

Deceiver, dissembler
Your trousers are alight
From what pole or gallows
Do they dangle in the night?

5. The Truth Will Set You Free

With all the bad news regarding the consequences of lying, where is the remedy? The good news is the truth will set us free. The truth is Jesus came to save sinners like you and me.

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

If you place your hope and faith and trust in Him you will be set free, you will repent or turn away from lying and will no longer be a slave to sin and the deception of The Liar. Going back to same chapter in John (Chapter 8) where Satan is called the father of lies, Jesus speaks to the Jews who believed and says:

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:31-36).”

In this life we won’t have perfection, and you may struggle with lying, but if you are a disciple of Christ there is hope, forgiveness, and freedom. If you continue to struggle, seek accountability, be quick to repent, be quick to seek forgiveness, don’t lie and try to cover it up with more lies, but walk forward in the light of His victorious truth and freedom!