Dear Friends

I recently came across a story that made me both smile and think:

A little girl noticed that her mother had strands of white hair amongst the brown. Curious, she asked, 'Mummy, why are some of your hairs white?' Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong, one of my hairs turns white.' The little girl thought about this then asked, 'Mummy, how come ALL of Grandma's hairs are white?'

The smile, of course, came from the girl’s innocent questions ending with embarrassment for her mother, but the thought concerned the human tendency to tell little lies. These may come from an attempt at kindness, ‘you haven’t aged a day’, denial, ‘my kilt must have shrunk in the cupboard’, avoidance, ‘I’ll do it next week’, or a whole host of other reasons.

It would be easy to take a blanket approach and say ‘a lie, is a lie, is a lie!’ but that is difficult to defend when we think of the joy given to children by certain fantasies we create for them, or keeping a secret when revealing it would cause unnecessary pain. So, to an extent, the ‘wrongness’ of a lie is based on motivation. But that is only true in part because, as has been said many times, ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. What must also be considered is the consequences of a lie: lying to avoid hurting someone may only bring greater pain when the truth comes out. Similarly, lying to avoid responsibility can rarely, if ever, be justified. Consequences matter at least as much, and probably more, than motivation. Trying to balance all this can become very complicated but, as Christians, we don’t have to! Why?

Because we have the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter told us what happens when we become Christians:

‘Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 2:38)

and Jesus, Himself, told us what the Holy Spirit does:

‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.’ (John 14:26)

As Christians, we can always rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This may come from reading scripture, in the advice of other Christians, in worship, or in many other ways. Most personally, it can come in that small, quiet, voice we call our conscience. Almost every time I do something I shouldn’t, I tend to be the first to know through my conscience. The Apostle Paul reminds us,

‘do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?’ (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Listen to the Spirit in you, and you won’t go far wrong.

Many blessings,

Carl