Lying and Coveting
Read Exodus 20

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness

Though this commandment was originally focussed against perjuring oneself in a judicial trial, it certainly applies to lying in general. With the teaching of situation ethics in our public schools (the teaching that there is no such thing as absolute truth), it’s no wonder that 67% of Americans don’t believe in absolute truth. With this kind of outlook it's easy to see why lying and deception are so much a part of our culture.

According to the book, The Day America Told The Truth:

The Lord Hates Lying

The Bible tells us, “There are six things the Lord hates"no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19 NLT).

Notice that three of the seven things the Lord hates revolve around the ninth commandment: Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness. From this, we can conclude that God hates lying of any form. Scripture tells us “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). The Lord hates lying because He is the source of truth—and truth describes His very character. In drastic contrast, Satan is the Father of Lies (John 8:44).

When we lie we are behaving more like Children of the Devil than Children of God. God says of the liar, "He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence" (Psalm 101:7), and “Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds” (Colossians 3:9 NLT).

Why Do We Lie?

Considering we know that lying is wrong, why do we do it? Often times we lie because we have been caught doing something wrong. An example of this was when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and found Aaron and the rest of the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. When Moses confronted Aaron with this, Aaron responded, “We threw the gold in the fire and this golden calf came out.”

According to the Washington Post, “People lie 92% of the time to save face and 98% to keep from offending someone else.” We have all been faced with those situations when telling the truth is not easy.

Forms of Lying

You may feel you don’t lie—but do you slander someone or spread gossip? What about flattery and exaggeration? The following four items are all a form of lying and are sin before the eyes of God.

1. Slander and Gossip

Slander is a sin that is far too common in the church today. Many times we engage in slandering the character of others or simply saying things that we know are not true, yet we repeat them and even go out of our way to spread them with the intent of hurting the person we are speaking of. In the same way, gossip is the unnecessary bearing of information that may or may not be true, but is always harmful to the subject.

The Bible tells us, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13).

Gossip is easy to dish out but far harder to take.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8).

If you wonder if something is gossip and whether you should repeat it, keep in mind the following points:

THINK

Is it True?
Will it Help?
Is it Inspiring?
Is it Necessary?
Is it Kind?

2. Flattery

Among the subtlest forms of deceit is flattery. Flattery is saying things to a person’s face that you would never say behind his back. Many people flatter someone to get something from them. They tell the person things that they don’t really believe themself. This is a form of lying.

3. Exaggeration

Exaggeration is very easy to do. We exaggerate stories to make them more interesting, exaggerate statistics or numbers to impress people, and one of the most common forms of exaggeration is to exaggerate our skills or experience in order to get a job or a promotion. Exaggeration is stretching the facts, and is another form of lying.

4. Silence

Sometimes we hear somebody say something that we know for a fact is not true and we remain silent. This is slander by silence. And, sometimes we conceal activities or things we know we should confess or admit, but remain silent to protect ourselves. This is a form of lying also.

You Shall Not Covet

While most of the ten commandments deal with things we do outwardly, the tenth commandment deals with what we do inwardly and our state of mind. Though it can be a subtle sin, it is a sin that can lead to far worse if not stopped.

What is coveting? It means to eagerly desire that which belongs to another and to set the heart on it. The eyes look at an object, the mind admires it, the will goes over to it, and the body moves in to possess it—this is coveting.

The sin of coveting is behind the fall of man. The Bible tells us, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6).

A Seed Sin

The sin of coveting can lead to other sins. For example, it is not wrong to admire a neighbor's car, but if you look at it, admire it, desire it, and then move in to possess it—you have committed the sin of stealing!

Coveting is a powerful and underestimated sin. It can cripple you spiritually and ultimately destroy you. Covetousness and greed often go hand in hand. For 30 pieces of silver Judas betrayed Jesus. The Bible tells us, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which wile some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).