LiesSample

Origin

In the beginning, there was only truth. There was only God, perfect in holiness, complete in Himself, and there was nothing untrue about Him. His creation was perfect, including the humans He made to multiply and have dominion over the earth. There was nothing untrue about them either. They lived in perfect harmony with God in the garden of Eden.

But then, something happened that would change the course of human history.

In this life of perfection, there was only one prohibition: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was a simple command and one that Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were happy to obey . . . until they began to doubt it.

The doubt didn’t sprout up suddenly in their mind. Instead, the temptation to taste the forbidden fruit came from the serpent, the Devil, who slithered up to Eve and began questioning God's words. His desire was not to deny God’s words but to question their truthfulness. Would they really die if they ate the fruit? According to the serpent, not so much. Instead, they would be like God, and then (by implication) life would be really, really good.

This is at the heart of all lies: the false promise of something better than the truth. In the case of Adam and Eve, it would have been hard to imagine a reality better than the one they were enjoying in the garden, but the serpent successfully sparked their imagination. He essentially said, “Imagine having all of this and being like God.”

Lies involve insinuation or sometimes even straight-out accusations. Without directly calling God a liar, the devil insinuated as much by denying the outcome He had predicted. The serpent implied that disobeying God would actually improve their life, not worse.

Lies can be effective strategies for the enemy, but the good news is that they are only as powerful as the credit we give them. So how can we guard ourselves against them? To learn this, we must first understand the strategy the enemy uses to entice us into believing them.

Prayer: Lord, in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve made the mistake of not trusting you and of trusting a lie instead. Help me not to make the same mistake in my own life. Show me the truth and how to guard against lies. Help me to be committed to the truth, that I might be set free from the bondage of lies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.