Liar Liar

"Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you" (Proverbs 4:24).

I have sometimes wondered what would happen if our noses really did grow longer each time we told a lie. Not just big lies, even when we tell little white ones. What if we were caught every single time our speech was anything but straight forward?

I bet then we would more closely watch what comes out of our mouths.

Guarding our hearts has a huge impact on what comes out of our mouths. The difference between being honest and deceptive is the difference between a pure heart and a polluted one. Jesus once said, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

The only way we would be able to put away crooked and devious speech would be to walk the righteous path on which only a righteous heart treads. The path our heart takes is the path our tongues will naturally take as well. This is why it is so important to guard our hearts.

If our goal is to honor God in all we say and do, we will fail miserably if we are people who are known as deceitful, tricky, scheming, wily, underhanded, cunning, sneaky, crafty, or sly when it comes to our words. In other words, we cannot honor God if we are liars. Even if our noses don't grow longer each time we lie, we will be found out. For that which is in our hearts always works its way to the surface.