SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

Knowingly making

a false statement

with the intent

to deceive

LYING

Now the serpent was more crafty

than any other beast of the field

that the Lord God had made. He said

to the woman, “Did God actually say,

„You shall not eat of any tree in

the garden‟?” And the woman said

to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit

of the trees in the garden, but God said…

GENESIS 3:1-4

„You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree

that is in the midst of the garden,

neither shall you touch it, lest you die.‟”

But the serpent said to the woman,

“You will not surely die…”

GENESIS 3:1-4

Now Cain said to his brother Abel,

“Let‟s go out to the field.”

While they were in the field, Cain

attacked his brother Abel & killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain,

“Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don‟t know,” he replied.

“Am I my brother‟s keeper?”

GENESIS 4:8-10

(The devil) 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 &

the father of lies.

JOHN 8:44b

Now the full number of those who believed

were of one heart & soul, & no one said

that any of the things that belonged to him

was his own, but they had everything

in common. And with great power the

apostles were giving their testimony to

the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

& great grace was upon them all…

ACTS 4:32-37

There was not a needy person among them,

for as many as were owners of lands or

houses sold them & brought the proceeds

of what was sold & laid it at the apostles'

feet, & it was distributed to each as any

had need. Thus Joseph, who was also

called by the apostles Barnabas

(which means son of encouragement)…

ACTS 4:32-37

…sold a field that belonged to him

& brought the money & laid it at

the apostles' feet…

ACTS 4:32-37

But a man named Ananias, with his wife

Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

& with his wife's knowledge he kept back

for himself some of the proceeds & brought

only a part of it & laid it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan

filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit

& to keep back for yourself part of

the proceeds of the land?

ACTS 5:1-11

While it remained unsold, did it not

remain your own? And after it was sold,

was it not at your disposal? Why is it

that you have contrived this

deed in your heart? You have not lied

to man but to God.” When Ananias heard

these words, he fell down & breathed

his last. And great fear came upon

all who heard of it.

ACTS 5:1-11

The young men rose & wrapped him up

& carried him out & buried him.

After …about three hours his wife came in,

not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether

you sold the land for so much.” And she said,

“Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her,

“How is it that you have agreed together

to test the Spirit of the Lord?

ACTS 5:1-11

Behold, the feet of those who have buried

your husband are at the door, & they will

carry you out.” Immediately she fell

down at his feet & breathed her last.

When the young men came in they

found her dead, & they carried her out &

buried her beside her husband. And great

fear came upon the whole church &

upon all who heard of these things.

ACTS 5:1-11

Do not lie to each other,

since you have taken off

your old self with

its practices…

COLOSSIANS 3:9

Again you have heard that it was said

to those of old, „You shall not swear falsely,

but shall perform to the Lord what

you have sworn.‟ But I say to you,

Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven,

for it is the throne of God, or by the earth,

for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem,

for it is the city of the great King.

MATTHEW 5:33-37

And do not take an oath by your head,

for you cannot make one

hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply

„Yes‟ or „No‟; anything more

than this comes from evil.

MATTHEW 5:33-37

False NarrativeAs long as I don’t lie under oath,

or to the authorities, it’s okay…

CHANGING OUR NARRATIVE

I need to lie in order to

(a) not get in trouble

(preventing what I don’t want) or

(b) get what I want in life

(getting what I do want)

WHY WE LIE

Bernie Madoff Marc Dreier

And everyone who hears these words of mine

& does not do them will be like a foolish

man who built his house on the sand.

And the rain fell, & the floods came,

& the winds blew & beat

against that house, & it fell,

& great was the fall of it.

MATTHEW 7:26-27

True NarrativeWhether I’m “under oath” or not,

those who live in the Kingdom

can & should tell the truth…

CHANGING OUR NARRATIVE

Because

(a) it honors God as our

protector & provider &

(b) it honors His image

in us & others we interact with

WHY TO TELL THE TRUTH

Option #1go one day (or part of it) w/out speaking

SOUL TRAINING EXERCISES

- Choose a day that will be less problematic

- Be sure to let others know what you’re doing

(heads up on your email, voicemail, Facebook,

etc.)

- People > Discipline, so talk if asked/beneficial

to…

Option #2go one full day without lying

SOUL TRAINING EXERCISES

- If you slip up, do your best to correct it on the

spot

- Correcting yourself right away will help later on

- Ask for God’s grace to do the “impossible”