My dear readers,

Do You have Abominable Lips?

Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.”

God uses the word “abomination” sparingly. But when He uses it, it is always to describe a severe transgression that He hates. Some of the things that the LORD describes as an abomination include eating unclean food (Lev 11), the sin of homosexuality (Lev 18 and 20), idolatry (Deut 7), destroying a person’s faith (Deut 13), sacrificing blemished animals to the Lord (Deut 17), human sacrifices to idols (Deut 18), cross dressing (Deut 22), sowing seeds of discord (Prov 6), and cheating in business (Prov 11). The list is not exhaustive, as the word “abomination” in Hebrew is used 117 times in the Old Testament. These examples of the usage of the word “abomination” reveal to us how God views the sins of man.

The word “abomination” has the idea of something hateful and vile which is, in the context of the Bible, in God’s eyes. Man needs to heed these sins, especially lying, one of the most common sins on earth!

The literal translation of Proverbs 12:22 is, “The abomination of the LORD are lips of lies, but the ones who keep on doing truthfully are his delight.” The emphasis is “the abomination of the LORD.” From the LORD’s perspective, He is revealing His disgust.

Lies are part of the sinful nature. Children lie before crossing the age of accountability. It is clear evidence of the sinful nature before it progresses full-blown into a wilful transgression. All lies must be nipped in the bud from a young age as soon as possible. The moment the slightest hint is given to a child that lying is acceptable in any form or degree, it will breed and grow into deadly cancer permeating through every pore of his body. He will grow up thinking that lying is something natural. Communicating in lies will become a normal way of life for him. The moment he opens his mouth, he lies. Lies will characterise his life because his heart is filled with the darkness of evil and deception. From childhood to adulthood, his life is one long snake-like series of deceit and lies. Lying becomes second nature, and soon, he will pass it on to his family if he gets married. The deeply rooted DNA of telling lies might become so ingrained that he will struggle to overcome it, but to no avail. Thus, the warning is about “lying lips”.

Deception is one of the worst forms of lying. Didn’t the serpent use deception to deceive Eve into sin? Deceptions consist of some truths mixed with a deadly dose of sweet but poisonous lies. The moment this concoction is swallowed, the deceived will die within, and become a victim. Unless the deceived one’s eyes are opened to the truth and repents, he might also become a liar and a deceiver himself when he tells others the deception or lie as if it is the truth.

But why are lying lips an abomination compared to other sins since it is part of the sinful nature?

The Book of Proverbs was written for Israel, God’s people. When God’s people lie (not the Gentiles who worship other gods), the name of Jehovah is maligned. Jehovah will also be characterised as a God who lies when God’s people who bear His Name lie. There is no name more holy and precious to God than the name of His only begotten Son. When God's people are given the privilege and permission to bear the holy Name of His Son, and they make Him into a liar by their lying lips, it is indeed an abomination to Him. It must be to us, too, as His children!

Therefore, as God’s children, we must “deal truly”. To “deal truly” means to “keep on doing truthfully.” God’s children know they are not perfect. They strive to be perfect in all things, but the reality is that they are unable to do so because they are in this earthen vessel. As Spurgeon puts it, they are all fallible people but not false people. When believers make mistakes, they own up. They might even tell a lie, but it was never premeditated. When they do lie, they repent as soon as possible and do not make excuses for lying. Their lives are marked by truthfulness in their thoughts, sayings and deeds. Their hearts’ motive is the love of Christ, that teaches them to love God with all their heart, soul, strength and might, and their neighbours as themselves.

Believers must speak the truth in love for sinners’ salvation. Believers understand the importance of truthfulness in a world of lies and liars that wants to get the upper hand in life. The sinners are in darkness and are dead in sin. Therefore, they are unaware of their precarious state of walking on thin ice daily and with the fiery furnace of hell beneath their feet. God’s people are aware of this. If believers lie, it will only condemn these sinners (whom God has brought into their lives) to hell forever! How can God’s people in good conscience do this to any sinner regardless of how badly or unjustly these sinners might have treated them? God’s people must remain truthful, like telling them of their terrible sins against God, even if the truth incurs an angry response. But sinners must be told the truth as it is God’s truth, to warn and help them out of their bondage to sin that has enslaved them all their lives without their knowing.

The truthfulness of believers will bring tremendous blessings to other believers. Firstly, all information will be carefully investigated for truthfulness before it is believed. Every believer knows the diabolical weakness of having “light ears”. These “ears” that believe too readily are based upon relationships, and do not realise that they could become tools of the devil or pawns in some evil conspiracy, especially for those in positions of influence. Once it is truthfully ascertained, the Word of God, i.e. God's truth, ought to be the only basis used to evaluate and arrive at the right approach to dealing with the information. God’s people know that God’s Word is the Truth of all truths and cannot lie.

Secondly, when God’s people relate to fellow believers, they will always season their speech with salt, i.e. to preserve life, prevent decay, and enrich their lives to become better children of God. They will refrain from half-truths, for these are worse than whole lies. They will desist from murmuring and slandering, by an inner self-evaluation of whether what they heard is accurate, and if it is, they will reflect how this will benefit anyone hearing it. If it does not build up one’s faith or protect believers spiritually, it is better not to repeat it.

God delights in all His children who deal truthfully in all relationships. God is pleased and accepts the truthfulness of all His beloved children, who seek to honour Him and Christ and glorify His holy Name. They are the walking testimonies of the manifestation of God’s love in Christ in a world that is dying in sin. God is pleased to make them a blessing to all the people they meet. They are clean vessels for God to use mightily.

This is another clear evidence of a born-again believer. Truthfulness characterises his inner and outer man, in contrast to the lies that once filled his mind, heart, lips and soul. He now loves the truth just as much as he hates the lies.