Devotionals

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When I was a kid there was a golden rule in our house about telling the truth. Problems, mistakes, foolishness and even downright meanness were not appreciated, but telling lies was on a different level all together. Our family had a very simple punishment for telling lies - having your mouth washed out with soap and water. That did not stop us kids testing and breaking this golden rule, but the discipline and insistence on truth was a good and precious thing.

In many ways, both in the public and private spheres of life, truth-telling is under stress and being replaced by spin. As a kid I grew up watching the Vietnam War on the TV, often hearing that victory was only a major bombing raid away. The truth was eventually faced after 30 years, when withdrawal and defeat had to be accepted. Now we watch the despair of Iraq and see death and destruction every day. Over 2000 young US soldiers are dead and who knows how many tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of Iraqis? The politicians proclaim that victory and peace are imminent, but a 'secure hotel' of foreign journalists is repeatedly bombed and attacked.

Recently in Australia the head of a large corporation, Telstra, told their shareholders that the future was not assured and that the company faced many hurdles to perform as it had in the past. The government, as half owner, criticised the company for this announcement and reported that it was the company bosses' job "to talk it up." Many a horrified journalist and investor were found to be still operating under the old fashioned idea that the job was actually to tell the truth - especially if it was bad news.

I don't have space to write about every other untruth, from the 'children overboard' to the 'reds under the bed' issues, for instance. One ALP politician, in a recently published infamous biography, even boasted that lies are a necessary and important part of public life.

The old book describes the devil as the father of lies:

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

As bad as public lies are, the private lies we all struggle with are even greater. And the evil one wants to foster the greatest lies: "there is no God

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