The Four Great Lies

For years, we've heard that there are three great lies that Satan uses in his efforts to get our Heavenly Father's children to do his bidding and become as miserable as he is. These are:


Just once won't hurt
Yes, once will hurt. God does not look on sin with the least degree of tolerance. Any sin is an offense again God and must be repented of. So, once does hurt in many ways. Even once takes us further from God and makes us less than what we should be.


Everyone's doing it
No, "everyone " isn't doing it. Not everyone lies, steals, or commits adultery or murder. In fact, very few people (relatively speaking) commit any given sin. And if you don't, aren't you part of "everyone"?


No one will ever know
Yes. God will know. And so will you. Isn't that enough?


But there is yet another pernicious lie. Its purpose is not so much to get you to do something as it is to get you to not do something. It goes like this:

If you're not perfect, you're no good

OK, we have been commanded to "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect". However.... it's not expected that we become perfect all in one day. It's an ongoing project. One's imperfection should never become a stumbling block to progress. Gen. George S. Patton recognized this principle when he said "A good plan now is better than a perfect plan later".

At the very least, instead of condemning others (or even ourselves!) for not being perfect, we should all be grateful that God allows us to see those imperfections so that we might be the wiser for it.

Remember: Satan will tell you 99 truths in order to get you to believe one lie.