Our proverb for today is Proverbs 26:24–25.
“A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart. When he speaks graciously, do not believe him.”
When caught in a half-truth, a deception, people might say, “Well, technically, it is not a lie.” Maybe we need to define a lie; a lie is an untruth spoken or implied in order to deceive.
Keeping that in mind, here is one of the more famous “half-truths.”
In Genesis 12, When he is around the Pharaoh, Abraham refers to his wife Sarah as his sister. He does the same thing in Genesis 20 to another king..
While Sarah was indeed Abraham’s half-sister, Abraham’s statement was a half-truth intended to deceive others. This half-truth leads to great pain for others and shame for himself. Lies usually do.
There can be a bit of Abraham’s deception in us all. People will say, ”I was just joking,” as a method of covering up a mean-spirited comment. Others will say, “Everyone is saying.” No, they are not. Maybe a couple of people said it, or maybe only you said it.
Often, the half-lie or deception is not used to influence you but is one you tell yourself. We say, “I had no other choice,” to justify a decision or action that actually had alternatives. We even say or tell ourselves, “I did my best,” when we know it isn’t true.
Being honest with ourselves is always helpful. Anything else is simply deceit.
I’m Lonnie Davis
These are thoughts worth thinking.