S142P4 – The fruit of falsehood: a lust for evil

Pro. 17:4

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

It started out small and innocent enough, or so he thought.  Instead of taking ownership of his mistake and risking disappointing his new boss, he told a little lie to save face.  It turned out that it was not difficult at all to cover up the problem and misdirect attention, and he breathed a sigh of relief once he had fixed everything unnoticed.  The next time he messed up, he took the same tack.  Before he knew it, his deception went beyond protecting his errors from being revealed.  He started looking for ways to skirt the rules and avoid accountability, ways to cheat for his own gain because it was just too easy to get away with it.  He was on a search for the next challenging cheat he could pull off unseen.

Lying works by the same rules as other sinful behavior.  It starts with the temptation of the flesh.  The discerning spirit’s alarm bells go off.  We have to decide whether to behave according to the flesh or the spirit.  If we cave, we strengthen the flesh.  Once that happens, the flesh gets hungrier.  We might expect that hunger to be for the same kind of sin, but it need not be.  This scripture shows us how the lying lips are drawn to a mischievous tongue.  It is trouble looking for trouble.  This is an intentional pursuit.  The liar has sought out mischief because his taste for evil has grown.  The one who spoke deception now looks to sow all sorts of turmoil and negativity with his words. 

I know what will happen if I eat a potato chip.  No matter how hard I try, I will not be able to stop at just one.  I will want another and likely consume the whole bag.  Then, the next time I am hungry for a snack, I will crave not only chips but other kinds of junk food as well.  Once the door is opened, it becomes a free-for-all.  If I want to eat healthy, the junk must go completely.  When we practice deception, we start to feed that sinful flesh within us, and it will get hungry for more.  The question is whether we want our words to feed the flesh or the spirit.  If we want to kill the appetite for deception and other sins, we must stop feeding at the trough.  Father, keep us from living as liars and developing an appetite for more sin.