Why We Lie
My first memory of my dad’s correction was when I told a lie. I was five. My dad parked our truck in an old car repair garage. Since my dad knew the owner, he felt it would be safe to leave me alone in the truck while he went to the bathroom. Suddenly I had to go too, at least that’s what I told my dad. The truth? I was afraid and didn’t want to be left alone in the truck.
When we got to the bathroom, I couldn’t go. My dad figured it out fast and disciplined me because I had lied. I told him why, but a lie is a lie, and “all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8). It would have been better had I just said, “Daddy, I don’t want to be here alone. Can I go with you?” But what if my dad had still said no? I would have had to submit to what he said. That is why we lie—we want to guarantee an outcome. The need to go to the bathroom trumps everything, so I said what I knew would give me the desired outcome—staying with my dad. That was manipulation, which is why my dad came down on me so hard. I never forgot it.
Jesus was tough on lying too. He said to His opponents, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. 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” (John 8:44, NIV).
Jesus explained that Satan is the father of lying, meaning he was the first to tell a lie. Lying is his native language. In other words, if he’s talking, he’s lying. He doesn’t hold the truth, and there is no truth in him. Satan is a master manipulator. He hears the truth, then devises how he can twist a portion of it to accomplish his desired outcome. Jesus plainly said that lying is done to carry out the devil’s desires!
Here is how lying works:
(1) Decide the outcome you want. Example: Jacob craved the blessing from his father.
(2) Determine what a person is willing to believe. Isaac was expecting a visit from Esau. Jacob got some goat’s hair and put it on his arms so his blind father would feel it and think he was Esau.
(3) Use their belief to your benefit. Jacob received the blessing despite his deception and lies.
This is why truth must be in the inward parts of our being. David prayed for this after his adulterous affair was exposed. He knew that to get right required a heart change and a commitment to honesty. “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (Psalm 51:6). He knew to be free he had to stop lying—to God, others, and himself. Let us pray this prayer with David: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
Jesus told us the pathway to freedom. The power of transformation is in embracing the truth—all of it! “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32).
Truth can be fearful. Honesty can leave you feeling exposed and vulnerable. Truth requires trust, and trust is hard to cultivate. In the world, everyone is hiding something or trying to change your perception of them. Lying is the native language of the world system, but there is a better way—the Kingdom way.
“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:6–7).
True fellowship comes from walking in the light (honesty). Truth and love create trust, and that is the pathway to forgiveness and freedom. Let us heed the admonition of Paul to love the truth (II Thessalonians 2:10–12) lest we believe a lie and are damned. Truth is the belt upon which our armor is anchored, and it’s the only way to win.
© 2026 Jason Sciscoe