Have you ever played the game "Two Truths and a Lie"? The rules are fairly simple. Someone shares two true statements about themselves along with one lie. The object is to spot the lie and expose it to the rest of the group. For example, if we were playing the game I'd share something like the three statements below:
- I once threw up on Elvis' grave.
- In junior high I was voted "Most Conceited." (I have the yearbook picture to prove it.)
- My favorite sport is baseball. (Go Phillies!)
Which of those statements is true? Which is false?
If you know me very well, the answers would be fairly obvious. But if you don't know me well, didn't know me in junior high, or haven't yet been exposed to tales of my Elvis antics, figuring out the lie would likely feel like taking a stab in the dark.
Lies can be like this, and truth can be tricky. As I've started to write on this subject, I've re-realized that the process of deciphering lies from truth is a difficult one. We rarely fall for something that we know is a lie. Instead, we are deceived.
Nancy and Dannah put it this way: "A lie is ‘a false statement with deliberate intent to deceive; an inaccurate or false statement.' Another definition is ‘an imposter.' A lie is an imposter of the truth. We often don't detect lies because they camouflage themselves so well" (Lies Young Women Believe, 22).
Truth can be equally tough to distinguish.
"As we were writing this book, we asked over 200 Christian young women to write a definition of ‘lie' and one for ‘truth.' Most were perplexed. Of those who took a stab, most of their definitions were simply statements of opposites: ‘a lie is something that is not true'; ‘truth is something that is not a lie.'
"The problem with these ‘definitions' is that they use circular reasoning. There's not a foundational starting point for the definition of either a lie or truth" (Lies Young Women Believe, 37).
This is especially true when we don't see God's Word as our standard of truth or we don't know it well enough for it to become our filter for lies.
How do you recognize Satan's lies?
How do you know God's truth?
In what areas of your life do you suspect lies have taken hold?
