Acts 5:1-11
"Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events."
Is it any wonder that great fear seized the church? Why would Ananias and Sapphira lie about this? They were not required to give all their money. The money was theirs to use as they desired.
We can work hard at justifying to ourselves why it is OK to lie. Seldom is it a "lie", we just are exaggerating or omitting the full story. This story from the earlier church makes the point rather clearly that we should always speak the truth to God.
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Why do we even attempt to lie about, exaggerate, or keep things when speaking to God? He knows, and can see the truth.
ReplyDeleteI can see why Ananias would lie about the money received from selling the land. He was thinking of himself and his wife. He may have been concerned about whether or not he would be able to provide food and basic needs for his family. I think this is a concern that many people in the church have today with tithing. It's easy to justify these actions because the money is being used to provide necessities, not frivolous or selfish things.
There is no reason that we should not bring everything to God. He is the one person we can be completely vulnerable with because He knows everything about us. I think it is a true gift to be able to come to Him with anything, yet I don't. If I think of this as a gift, maybe I will be less likely to "lie" to God, and be more willing to speak openly and honestly with HIm.