Why God Hates Lying

Laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
–Ephesians 4:25

In Proverbs 6:16–19, lying is listed not once but twice among the things that God hates. He also dedicated one of the Ten Commandments to this issue. Why does God hate lying so much?

God hates lying because of its origin. James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” God is light. With Him, there is no shading of the truth. Titus 1:2 says bluntly that God “cannot lie.” On the other hand, Satan cannot not lie. In John 8:44, Jesus described Satan this way: “He . . . does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

When Christians lie, we are behaving more like children of Satan than children of God. As theologian J. I. Packer wrote, “There is no godliness without truthfulness.” In Ephesians 4:22, Paul said, “Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.” In Paul’s day, a dead body would be wrapped in graveclothes before being placed in a tomb. That’s what happened to Jesus’s body. When Jesus rose from the dead, He laid aside those graveclothes (John 20:4–8). Paul was using that imagery in Ephesians 4. When we become Christians, we need to lay aside our graveclothes–that is, those behaviors that were part of our sinful nature when we were still under the dominion of Satan. Instead, we are to put on new behaviors in keeping with who we are in Christ. Paul continued, “Put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor” (vv. 24–25). Being truthful is a hallmark of godliness, but lying is of Satan.

God also hates lying because of its outcome. Proverbs 16:28 says, “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.” The New Testament writers repeatedly warned the early Christians against lying to or about one another. God hates division among Christians, and lies spread division. When you think about any broken or strained relationships in your life, I bet you’ll find that lying or deception was involved. Lying separates believers.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “The Ninth Commandment: Safeguard the Reputation of Others” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2023.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.