Lying Lips

Lying Lips

Sapphira

Read: Acts 5:3-11

“Five feet, three inches?” asked the man filling out my driver’s license renewal form.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Blue eyes?”

“Yes.”

“Still 130 pounds?”

I nodded. He started typing, then stopped and peered at me over his reading glasses. “What’s that look for?” he demanded.

“Well . . . ,” I stammered, “just how important is it to be totally accurate here?” I knew I wouldn’t be standing behind the high counter forever.

Lying often has serious consequences, as Sapphira and her husband Ananias found out. When the couple sold a piece of property, they pretended to give all the money to their group of believers, but they secretly kept some for themselves. No one would be any the wiser—or so they thought.

Sapphira came in to see the apostles without knowing that her husband had been struck dead a few hours earlier for lying. When Peter asked if the money Ananias had contributed was the amount they had received for their land, she answered, “Yes, that was the price.” Sapphira expected to be commended for such generosity; instead, she was horrified to hear Peter denounce her and Ananias for lying to God. He told her that she would die for this sin as her husband had.

God struck Sapphira and Ananias down to purge the developing church of destructive forces such as lying and hypocrisy. Thankfully, he doesn’t always judge lying so severely, but he still hears every lie that we tell, and he despises this sin. Each time we are less than truthful, we are building a habit of dishonesty. We are also acting like Satan, whom the Bible calls “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Eventually, we will suffer the consequences of disobeying God’s command to avoid lying. We may be able to fool others, but we will never fool God—not even standing behind a high counter.

The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.

Proverbs 12:22