Our lesson topic for February 25 was truthfulness. To start off the lesson, we played a quick round of balderdash.
The first spiritual battle on earth centered around truth and deception (Genesis 3:1-6). Satan lied to Eve. She believed the lie and suffered spiritual death—separation from God. Life and death hinge on truth. Satan is still trying to deceive the world today. He is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Satan’s primary attack against us is spiritual lies and deception. The only way to escape the peril of his lies is to make sure that we know the truth.
It is important to know the truth so that we will not be deceived by the lies of the enemy. Just like balderdash, sometimes his lies sound like truth or close to the truth when they really aren’t. When we know the truth and apply it in our lives, we will be free from the trap of Satan’s lies and deceitfulness. That is why it is so important to be reading, studying, and applying God’s Word in our lives–it is the source of truth (John 17:17). The more we come to know the Lord and what He says, the more quickly we will be able to discern between truth and error.
What does God think about lying?
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.”
Proverbs 12:22
Lies are like traps. One lie often leads to another and another until you can’t break free. Only the truth can set us free (John 8:32). When we’ve lied to someone, we need to go back, tell them the truth, and ask for forgiveness. (Proverbs 28:13). Acknowledging the truth by confessing sin and replacing the enemy’s lies with God’s truth brings freedom.
While speaking the truth is important, there are other ways in which we can be dishonest and deceitful without actually telling a lie. For example: telling only part of the truth, keeping secrets from our parents, doing something behind someone’s back, or being deceitful. More subtle forms of deceitfulness include exaggerating, pretending that you know something that you don’t, manipulating others, or acting differently around different people.
As we strive to be bright lights for the Lord, we need to avoid all forms of deceitfulness—if we have lies that we are covering up it will dim our light and hinder our testimony. If truthfulness is a struggle in your life, find some verses to memorize about truth and lying. The Lord has a lot to say about this subject!
As bright lights for the Lord, we want to be valiant for the truth. We want to be fighting against the lies of the enemy and explain God’s truth to those around us. We want to represent Jesus, the One who is the truth (John 14:6), everywhere we go. So many people around us are believing the lies of the enemy and they are trapped. We want to be able to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, because only He can set them free.
For our activity we had a debate between lies and truth. The lies team was supposed to come up with as many excuses and lies as they could for making the wrong choice, while the truth team was supposed to make a case for making the right choice.
We ended our meeting with a great time of snacks and fellowship.