Our older son was five, our daughter was three and our youngest son was one. I was rushing to prepare lunch. My hubby is at work. Talk about being busy and nervous, that was it.

I usually love setting up my hair, dressing up and looking good. But during this season, it was a struggle for me even to wash my face.

So, in the middle of me running around to prepare lunch, the phone rang. I didn’t even pay attention to it. My five years old boy ran and answered it. And I heard him saying, “Yes, she is, hold on”.

I mean who can call at 12 noon? This is a no-brainer question. Who else than those telemarketers? I said, with a very low voice, “Tell them that I’m not home”.

I wish I video recorded his face. He hid the phone behind him and came closer to me and asked me, “What?” as if he didn’t hear me. I repeated what I just said. And now his face told me that he was shocked with my answer.

Well, in the middle of our discussion, the person who called hanged up. He checked the tone and returned the phone and came right back to me with a slow motion.

“Mom, what do you mean you are not here? You are here. Aren’t you?” he asked.

Then I woke up from my “slumber” and began to choose words which might cover up my lie.

I said, “Well, I’m here but you know these people don’t have any better job than calling people at a mealtime to ask very nonsense question like “Do you want us to deliver you beef at your doorstep” kind of question or God knows what. So, I don’t have time to talk to them.”

He heard me very well. He nodded his head and asked, “So, Mom, why didn’t you tell them what you just told me?”

I mean, is there any good answer for this question? He caught me red-handed and I kind of opened my mouth but I ended up not saying a word.

And with inquisitive face, he continued, “Mom, that means you lied by saying you are not here when you are here, didn’t you?”

I said, “Well, you see they are annoying me. I don’t want to talk to them. Can’t you see me running up and down?”

As my voice got louder, his voice got quieter every time he replied back to my defensive statements.

He said with a low voice, “Mom, you always teach me that lying is sin. You told me that God doesn’t like lying lips. But you just lied. Why didn’t you say to them, “I’m busy now”? That wouldn’t be lying since you are busy.”

Well, that was just a full sermon for me that day. God spoke directly to my heart. God shone the light on the darkest spot of my life.

From that day on, I began to be very sensitive to “the little lies” which were invading my life. I realized that there was more to my lying lips than I thought. I knew that those lies were chipping away all the effort I was putting on to grow in the knowledge of God and His Word.

So, as I always do, I began asking. Why do I lie? Why is lying necessary or important for me? Was it because I grew up in a society where lying is part of life?

Well, that might be true to some extent but is that really the main issue?

“What is the root of all these?” I asked myself. And I found these:

I realized that lying lips were in fact the symptoms of my internal spiritual sickness. I lie because I don’t trust God; I lie because I want to look different than what I really am. I lie because I don’t like what God gave me. I lie because those lies make me look good (I think). I lie because I fear facing the truth. I lie because the light makes me naked; and I lie because I choose to stay in the dark so that nobody knows the real truth about me.

Five years old boy exposed a serious spiritual problem I had in my life. That day was a turning point for me. I knew that I allowed lying lips to live in my life as part of my spirituality. What a loss!

Now, I ask myself this question whenever I face with a temptation to lie: Why am I lying? My answer always gives me a reason to tell the truth because I see how groundless my fears are; fears which motivate me to speak lie.

Why do we lie? Why don’t we speak the truth to one another?

Yes, telling the truth costs us a lot but the cost of speaking lies is even more.

By the way, small lies don’t stay as they are unless we become aware of their danger in our lives and get rid of them. They grow to maturity and take over our lives (James 1:13-15). Once they take over our lives, they erode our intimacy with our God, spouses, friends and families and mar our sexual purity. Why? It is because lying lips are grounds on which major sinful acts come forth.

That is why you can’t find a sexually immoral person with honest lips. In the same way, you can’t find a sexually pure person with lying lips. Yes, sexual purity and honesty (integrity) or sexual immorality and lying lips are two faces of a coin. They are inseparable. We can’t say, “I’m honest” while we are sleeping with the person we are not married to; or while we are hooked with masturbation and porn addiction because these sins are built on a lie. I will say more on this another time.

But for now, what is the message? Simple! Let’s get rid of lying lips from our lives before they turn our lives upside down. Let’s choose to speak the truth all the time. Let’s speak the truth to one another with love and respect.

Let’s get rid of those lying lips which separate us from our God and each other.

Let me leave you with this: “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Proverbs 12:22 ///

P. S. Now when the phone rings in my house at the wrong time, I shout out, saying, “Guys, as you can see, I’m very busy”; which I’m almost all the time, the time most telemarketers love to call.