Truly, God blows my mind.
Recently, last week exactly, I shared a meme that is honest; not knowing God was setting me up for this blog today.
Genesis 42 deals extensively with the consequences of lies in the lives of Jacob’s sons. We stare, into God’s Holy Word just before Jacob will come to know how grossly his sons had lied to him about Joseph’s death. Genesis 42 vs 36 shows us the burden of loss Jacob carried about Joseph’s death he believed as truth based on falsified evidence of Joseph’s coat covered in animal blood.
‘Enduring Word’ points out the power of lies and the hurt, destruction, and awfulness lies cause.
So why do we lie knowing it causes so much damage?
Arash Emamzadeh writes for ‘Psychology Today’, summarising research from the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science.
But why do we deliberately want to mislead others?
Interestingly, Arash Emamzadeh, makes a sobering remark about the root cause of why we lie. To quote, “A common form of deception is lying, which refers to making a false statement deliberately and with the intent to mislead the listener.”
‘Psytherapy’ in the UK offers a poignant answer showing that our root cause for lying is to control our self-preservation.
A fascinating article written by Jeff Nilsson, ‘The Saturday Evening Post’, titled, ‘8 of History’s Most Destructive Lies’, shows some massive consequences given by lies told by companies and governments. Here is one on the list told by Stalin and the media in the 1930’s.
Sanne Preuter et al. Br J Soc Psychol. 2024 Apr, reveals in ‘PubMed’ that despite the knock-on affect that lies have on social decay, lies have a profound affect on the liar too. To quote, “Results showed that lying decreased people’s self-esteem and increased negative affect, regardless of the type of lie (self-centred vs. other-oriented).”
All world religions have lied to billions of people about Jesus. In fact, even some under the banner of Christianity lie about Jesus and God’s Word.
JESUS IS GOD!!!
Anything other than this truth about Jesus, and how that affects our lives, now and after the grave, is deception.
‘GotQuestions’ briefly touches on why Christianity is different to other so-called religions.
Jesus says of Himself:
John 10 vs 30: “I and the Father are one.”
John 14 vs 6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Matthew 28 vs 18: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Revelation 22 vs 12: “Behold, I [Jesus] am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”
Therefore, if Plato is telling the truth, then NOTHING other than the singular truth that Jesus is God (proven by the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy coming true through Jesus, the non-Christian sources about Jesus’ existence, the eyewitness accounts of Jesus- His Miracles and death, burial, and ressurection) can be believed.
Unless, of course the academics, as in Joseph’s brothers lies, are true that our self-esteem is so low that we lie to maintain perceived control by manipulating others so that we get what we want out of a situation.
Only we can answer that. And if we lie to ourselves about ourselves, we inadvertently, and maybe unbeknownst, prove a magnificent statement of truth written in the Holy Bible. Messiah King Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6 vs 21-23 that if our perception is based in lies the outcome can only be a life living a lie.
So are we liars?
Revelation 22 is the closing chapter of God’s Word. I, personally, am fascinated by it as it is very clear what Jesus accepts and what He will not accept into eternity with Him. It helps us to get seriously earnest about being honest before God.
JESUS LOVES YOU.
#Hayibo 