My neighborhood was buzzing with the local police on Saturday. Turns out my neighbors had been robbed. The police went door-to-door to see if anyone saw anything. After a brief discussion, the officer 
informed me that they didn’t particularly believe the story my neighbors were selling them. (In a house where 17-20 year old young men hang out most of the day, I wasn’t really buying the fact that a stranger broke in either.)
What type of person would call the police, and then not tell the truth? The police are supposed to be there to help. Yet these people probably justified their implausible story believing that what they were doing wasn’t really wrong.
But then, don’t Christians do the same with God?
We call on him to help, but then make all types of excuses and deals to get out of the situation we most likely got ourselves into. In the end, we try to justify to the Lord why we should be saved instead of falling down before God and taking full blame.
Luke 16:15, states, He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” God knows why you did what you did. You can’t hide from Him. And the more you lie to God, the less likely He is to hear your prayers.
We try to convince ourselves that what we’re doing is right. I see this most often when it comes to giving 
at church. You know that 10% thing that most people don’t do? You’re not alone. I used to make excuses also. I’d tell myself and God that once I got out of debt, I’d not only pay the ten percent, but I’d pay more. Instead, I just put myself into more debt. Or we haggle over whether God wants ten percent off the net or the gross.
How about when it comes to helping out others? We make excuses, claiming to have other plans, when we really just don’t want to do the task being asked of us. In the end, we not only convince others, but ourselves as well. Then we tell God that He knows how tired we are and how much rest we need. But He knows the real reason you don’t want to get involved.
_______________________________
Justified means just as if you’ve never sinned. – Joyce Meyer
_______________________________
We justify our actions to our church family, to ourselves, and to God to help alleviate any guilt we might feel inside. Justification of a lie doesn’t make it the truth. If you have to justify your actions, it just means you don’t even believe your own story.
To lie to God is to make mockery of your belief. You’re basically saying that God isn’t the true God because He doesn’t really know what I did. Don’t be a fool. He knows. And you’ll eventually have to answer for it one day.
If you or someone you know are in need of prayer this week, please leave a comment. We’d be more than happy to pray for you. And if this post moved you in some way, please feel free to share it.
Sign up to receive free books and my quarterly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bEucsn
[…] Source: Works Better to Tell the Truth […]