Articles
Proverbs To Live By (19:9)
A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish.
Lance Armstrong is an interesting contemporary study in this proverb. He has been stripped of nearly all his cycling championships, endorsements, board positions and eligibility for future competition. His cheating naturally morphed into lying on an enormous scale: He lied to friends and family, lied about his accusers, lied during sworn testimony, lied while taunting and ridiculing those whom he knew were telling the truth about his lying.
Lying can become a convenient defense. When we are in a jam, we can convincingly lie so as to escape the pressure of the moment. But we will not get away with it forever, as the Bicycle King is finding out. And what is the price Armstrong is paying for his house-of-cards career? Loss of friends, loss of respect, loss of influence, loss of admiration, loss of money, loss of prestige – in short the loss of everything he lied to attain.
Our lies may not be exposed on such a grand scale, but they will cost us more than anything they might gain for us.
