The Sunday Sermonette – Granny, Goebbels, and The Truth.

The misty, musty halls of history are filled with lies and liars. One of the most adroit liars of the 20th Century was Joseph Goebbels, who was the Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. His title allowed Goebbels to control the arts, radio broadcasts, and newspapers. Through them, he inundated Germans with Nazi ideology while censoring the truth. Goebbels was maniacally devoted to Hitler, who discovered his secret after working with him: Goebbels adored being admired. Once Hitler discovered Goebbels’ weakness, he exploited it.

Goebbels’s thirst for admiration, especially that of Hitler, may have been the reason he wholeheartedly endorsed Hitler’s “big lie” theory, which he first described in his book Mein Kampf. He proposed that people would eventually believe a colossal lie if they believed someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” The end result of Hitler’s big lie, and Goebbels spewing it across Germany, was the death and murder of over 70 million people worldwide.

Closer to home, my sweet Granny from D’Lo once said, “Andy, a lie don’t care who tells it, ’cause, in the end, somebody’s gonna get hurt.” Granny was right. The destructive power of lies is a universal truth. It’s a force that can tear apart relationships and shatter trust. Regardless of who you are, anyone can tell a lie. It can be tempting to lie when we think it will benefit us. But the truth is, our lies can cause irreparable damage, not just to us but to those about whom we spread lies.

A single lie can crush us, leaving us bewildered and wondering why it was said in the first place. The scars of that one lie may leave us confused and angry. Its emotional impact is often more damaging than the lie itself. Fabricated lies are very harmful because they frequently require additional lies to maintain the facade, creating a twisted, sticky web of deceit.

However, the opposite of telling lies is telling the truth.

“Thou shall not lie” is one of Father God’s Ten Commandments. Whether or not you espouse Christianity, the value of truthfulness is undeniable. Learning to tell the truth in love and not lie is noble. Navigating the stormy seas between lies and truth is crucial for our mental well-being. It requires us to examine our motivations and the potential impact of our words. The Bible, a beacon of truth, can guide us in this journey, emphasizing the importance of honesty in our lives.

The Bible’s divinely inspired writers pinned wise words, ancient words that remind us to guard what we say and how we say it. James, the brother of Jesus, stated, “No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Would you agree? I do. Saint Matthew wrote: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” King Solomon reminds us, “The Lord abhors lying lips, but he delights in those who are truthful.”

Dear friends, I hope these Bible verses about lying may encourage you, me, and us to be truthful in all things.

Ponder this go forth.