There is a saying that I think is spot on – ‘If you don’t know the truth… you can’t recognize a lie.’ True that. It’s so simple and obvious that its ‘truth’ is indisputable. The problem? Truth. How do you define the word? How does it look, operationally, in your life? Do you believe in and/or practice the ‘little white lie’? Why? Why can’t truth be your foundation, be the basis on which you act? What does the ‘little white lie’ provide for you?
If it is difficult to define ‘truth’ and to see how it is expressed, then how do you act and what is it you express? And if you think this is just so much mental gamesmanship – no. If truth isn’t your standard, is it lies? What other option is there? Remember the story of the boy who cried wolf? He did it so often and people reacted to the false report until the time when the wolf did come but people had stopped believing in the boy’s words. This happens. If you aren’t known by the veracity of your words, then people stop believing. Is this your goal? Probably not, but this is the eventual result.
Another problem with lies is that you have to continue to invent them and inevitably they come into conflict with painful repercussions. The other issue is that you have to remember what lie you told to which person or you end up giving mixed messages with conflicting results. Lies really are a pain. They do absolutely nothing for your reputation and they alienate you from others. If you can’t be trusted, then why would others want to be with you?
Truth can also be painful – it can hurt. But it can also be healed because it is truth. Truth is a platform that you can stand on. You may not always be liked, but you will be respected. People will know from their experience of watching and interacting with you that you speak and act on all the truth you know. You never have to wonder if what you said to Person A is what you are saying to Person B because there is a congruity to what you do and say.
There really is no stature in being a liar. There is to being one who speaks the truth in love, doesn’t equivocate, and tries to help others understand what the truth stands on that is being advocated. Truth always has a foundation and it never is sinking or shifting sand. Truth will always stand… perhaps slightly battered by misunderstanding or rejection at times, but it always stands.
