I was talking with a friend this morning and I mentioned that I had received beatings, as a child and teen, for telling the truth. That's not supposed to be the reality for a child. It's no wonder I became a liar due to the fact I was beaten for telling the truth.
When a child is raised by liars, he will learn to lie. Both my father and my step-mother would require me to lie to the other about their actions and words. Of course, if I lied to them about mine, I got a beating. Teaching a child to lie, then punishing them for lying is confusing to a child. But, beating a child for telling the truth is not confusing. The child learns that the truth is not acceptable. The truth will only bring trouble. In the house of liars, that is.
Thankfully, I didn't live in that household beyond nine years. At the age of 13, I began living with honest adults. And I began to learn that the truth was, indeed, the right way to live. I never once got in trouble for telling the truth by another adult after that. Unfortunately, I did return to living in my father's presence, so I did receive beatings for the truth after the age of 14. But, thankfully, the other person in that house was the most honest person I have ever met in my life. And she is the one who brought about the change in my life to move from dishonesty to honesty.
Once I realized how bad I had gotten with lying and decided to make the change to being an honest person, I realized that the truth really does set you free. Free from fear. Fear from reprisals. Free from deception. It's a freedom I hadn't known until I was in my mid-20's. And it's a freedom I've relished throughout the rest of my adult life. I have friends who have gotten upset with me because I won't tell a "white lie" for them. But, for someone like me, even a little lie could become a snowball that grows as it rolls downhill and enmesh me into the life of dishonesty, again, and I will not allow that to happen.
The thing about the truth is, you don't have to remember it. It is what it is, and you'll never get tripped up by it. One lie begets another begets another begets another until you don't even know what the truth is anymore. If someone asked you your name, you'd be tempted to lie about it because you don't know what the truth is. I love the scripture that describes a liar: "the truth isn't in them." And from personal experience I can tell you that's real. A liar cannot know the truth because it doesn't reside in them. Jesus is the truth, the light, the way and He resides in my heart. So lies no longer have a place in my life. And I love it that way.
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