Warning from God’s word about lying

Jun 13, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

From a position of neutrality, I humbly submit this letter to the citizens of the land, which I dearly love. I am not a theologian but I am compelled to use God’s word to address the deadly virus of lying that has gripped our country. The word “One” in Guyana’s motto no longer has a message of unity because we are a divided people in a confused nation with an uncertain destiny but prayer and repentance always change direction if we are obedient to God’s will.
We all know lying is wrong and it is for that reason that we are taught “not to lie” from birth but as we grow older the lust and greed for money, fame and power consume us and we now justify lies to achieve selfish goals with no regard for the pain and affliction imposed on others.
Since March 2, the news media is saturated with trying to separate truth from lies and instead of going to God’s word, we choose to use the court without achieving the desired results. This brought me to search God’s word to see how many times “lie” is mentioned and discovered that this offence is mention more times than all the other offences combined and comes with a stern warning of serious consequences to the offenders. I wish to quote from the wise King Solomon about the seven things that God hates and lying is mentioned twice among them and it is interesting to note that a lying tongue is followed by “hands that shed innocent blood” – Proverbs 6: 16-19.
16: There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18: A heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19: A false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Lying works exactly like the nervous system that transmits messages at supersonic speed to the brain for action. My lie is transmitted the same way to God who immediately convicts me that lying is wrong. If I decide to execute the plan, additional lies will be my only means of false protection. God will not stop me from choosing the road to self-destruction because He gave me a brain or His spirit in me makes me aware that serious consequences await my stubbornness. Yes, you and I understand that guilt is a great and marvelous protective gift from God to help us to walk in His ways. Anyone who suppresses guilt is rebelling against God’s warning and challenging Him. That person is either very brave or extremely stupid or both because inescapable consequences awaits him. The bible says in Proverbs 29:1 “whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy” and let me follow with this warning, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” – Hebrews 10: 31.
It is no secret that it takes more effort to lie than speaking the truth and it can damage our character for life. There is one truth; you speak it and it delivers the best that life has to offer but a lie has to have others in storage to defend the first until the ongoing cycle becomes unbearable. At this stage, you are left with two options which are: to repent and ask God and man’s forgiveness. If you choose to become a hardened addicted liar, believing your own lie and convincing yourself that it is now acceptable to use any means to destroy those who expose your nature, this is the beginning of the road to total destruction to self and others. Remember that with God, no man can cover his trail.
We continue to believe the lie that we have a skin problem, when in reality, we have a sin problem that exposes the condition of our heart. God’s word declares that, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17: 9. God is the only cure for the sin of prejudice and discrimination, which has plagued us for decades but we have to confess this sin, repent and ask for His forgiveness.
Freedom of choice is endorsed by God and no one has the authority to reverse that God-given freedom and I want to appeal to all concerned to stop trying to undo what has been done. The will of the voters is not negotiable. Please accept our choice and stop seeing us as Indo and Afro Guyanese because God made us one and indeed we are One People and blessed to be born in a land of great abundance and that land is Guyana.
Let me close with the words of the wise king Solomon: “This is what I have found. God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes” – Ecclesiastes 7:29. Please be reminded that, “crime has no friends. Those who lie with me and lie for me cannot be trusted as my friends because they will eventually lie against me”.

Harold Beharry