Posted in Train Up A Child Thursday
It's almost Saturday! I'm falling behind........So here is a short one
Thou Shalt Not Lie Exodus 20:16
God hates lies. God is truth, lies are firmly in the realm of the wicked one who is the father of lies. The OT is full of God's condemnation of false hood, of negative consequences that come from false hoods, of how lies impact not only the liar but also everyone around him. So in our home we train our children from an early age that lies get the very worst consequences. A child who disobeys but tells the truth or readily admits his wrong doing receives the consequences of that disobedience, but one who disobeys and then lies about it receives many times more consequences. I think it was John MacArthur who made the point that a child who thinks he can lie and get away with it will be much more prone to sneaky, disobedient and rebellious behavior because they think they have a pretty good chance of lying their way out of trouble. I also don't want my children to get a taste for lying, the more you lie, the easier it becomes. Of course, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, so I do miss lies sometimes, but God is faithful to have the truth come out one way or another. And I often pray that the Lord would help me to see those little signs that my kids exhibit (each one has different signs) on the rare occassions when they do lie to me or to their dad.
At the same time, I try not to tempt them to lie. Here's a good example from this morning! I knew my 4 year old had got hold of the tube of decorating gel that I used on the birthday cake I bought Trinity yesterday (alas, gone are the days of my crafting beautiful homemade birthday cakes in the shape of giraffes or gumball machines!), I didn't say to Aria "Did you eat the gel from this tube?" I mean, I can see the evidence all over her face! I know very well she did, why give her the chance to think "Hmm, mom doesn't know...maybe I say no...") So in this case, I picked her up, took her to the bathroom and said "You ate Mommy's cake gel after I told you not to, you need a consequence." And then go through Repentence, Fogiveness, Restoration
