Obviously, lying is a bad thing. When we lie, or follow others who do, we are in line with Satan because he is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Lying is a sure sign of evil. It is his calling card.

And there is that expression: “the worst person you can lie to is yourself.”

Let’s ask ourselves: what lies do we feed our souls? In what ways are we self-deceiving? What do we tell ourselves because it’s what we want to hear (as opposed to what we need to hear)? Is pride preventing us from acknowledging a truth? Do we hate like the plague admitting a fault or mistake?

When you are in prayer, these are some of the questions you may want to ask.

Honesty starts with humility. You can’t be honest without being humble. And you can’t be humble without being honest.

For the devil is also the “prince of pride” (Ephesians 6:12, 1 Timothy 3:6, and Job 41:34).

Do we really want to be in his camp? Do we really want to feed him energy?

Dishonesty obscures and so too does it weave into another title for Satan: “prince of darkness.”

Jesus was incredible in how every single syllable He muttered mattered—and on several levels.

Summer is a good time to revisit Scripture.

It is the devil who binds and oppresses, and so we have the expression, “The truth sets us free.”

When you are honest with yourself, you set yourself free of the devil’s shackles in ways you might not currently comprehend.

Are you too involved with the “world”? We all need to know. It is one thing to be aware of the “signs of the times,” and to pray away the evil rising around us and so apparent in the news. Evil is real.

But when we become too involved with the “world”—money, politics, social media, stature of any sort—we fall into the thrall of a final title for Satan: “prince of this world.” The world is a structure of any kind created without God.

If we are worldly, we will pursue power, pleasure, wealth, approval, and self-exaltation. We will pay attention to celebrities and politicians more than Jesus. We will judge everything by visible success. We will live as though this present life is all that exists.

Christians must live among other people, work, raise families, create, serve, vote, buy, sell, teach, build, and participate in society. But they must not allow the spirit of the age to rule their hearts.

Jesus tells His disciples: ““They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”
(John 17:16).

When we lie to ourselves, we are bound to this world, and when we are bound to this earth, the destination at best is purgatory.