Feeling guilty about that lie you told today? Or have you told so many that you have a hard time remembering what the truth is? Or perhaps you deceive subtly by pretending to be someone you’re not. Are your relationships suffering for it?
Deceit’s family of behaviors includes lying, fraud, hypocrisy, flattery, and cheating. These can be replaced by honesty.
Discover how to overcome deceit in its various forms through time-tested insights that really work!
Self-Test
Are You Deceitful?
The following self-evaluation quiz will help you determine whether you have a tendency toward being deceptive.
- Do you look on truth as something you can mold rather than as an unchanging reality?
- Do you bend—or break—the truth when speaking with others?
- Do you use slyness, trickery, underhandedness, guile, or invention as a tool to get ahead?
- Are you a different person when you are alone than when others are watching?
- Do you leave the impression with others that you are a better person than you actually are?
- Do you say good things about other people insincerely, hoping to get on their good side?
- Do you cheat people out of what is rightfully theirs?
- Do you break the rules you had agreed to abide by?
Deceit: Showing a False Face
Where is your biggest problem with deception? Do you tell falsehoods when it serves your purpose? Do you pretend to be what you are not? Do you tell people what they want to hear about themselves, even when it is not true? Do you cheat to gain an advantage in a contest? Do you trick others for profit?
It can be very tempting to shade the truth or present oneself in a false light for selfish reasons. Nevertheless, each of us must give up deception and learn the ways of honesty and integrity. (read more)
Five Steps to Overcome Deceit
Are you struggling with being deceitful in some way? We have outlined a five-step process to help you change and heal in this area of your life. Take all the time you need with each of the steps included in this process. (read more)
Finding Freedom – A True Story
One Sunday morning I arrived early at the church where I was to speak. There was only one person in the auditorium. She was in front of the platform, arranging flowers in a basket. Perhaps a dozen varieties of flowers were masterfully arranged so that each flower was displayed at its best, colorful and delicate. The arrangement couldn’t have been more beautiful.
I approached the platform and said to the lady, “You sure have done a beautiful job arranging those flowers.”
She turned around. (read more)
Related Verses
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth, each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart, he sets a trap for him. (Jeremiah 9:8, NIV)
Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. (Colossians 3:9-10, NLT2)
The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth. (Proverbs 12:22, NLT2)
Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth. (Proverbs 20:17, NLT2)
I won’t play favorites or try to flatter anyone. For if I tried flattery, my Creator would soon destroy me. (Job 32:21-22, NLT2)
The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. (1 Corinthians 6:7-9, NIV)
Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice. (Proverbs 16:8, NASB95)