Ac 5:3-4
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. KJV
It is so easy, when we operate from our fallen nature, to try to make things appear a certain way so as to make ourselves look good. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to look good in the eyes of the apostles and the others in the church.
One can only surmise why they did this.
Could it be that they were afraid that the Lord wouldn’t/couldn’t meet their needs if they got rid of everything?
Could it be that they thought “the preacher doesn’t need this much money?”
Whatever the reason, they tried to make it appear different from what it was. They tried to make it look as if they had sacrificed all. But, they didn’t.
Total and complete integrity in everything we do and say is the only way to live life abundantly and without fear.
We may think we are getting over on someone, but the truth is that we have not lied to men, but to God. Whether it is a bald-faced lie, or just not revealing the whole truth, a lie is a lie; and the only one we truly hurt is ourself.
When we live a life that is a lie, everything around us is messed up. People cannot love us for who we are, because they do not know who we are. We have kept that from them with our deceitfulness.
And without love, our world falls apart.
When we do not feel loved for who we are, we continue in a downward spiral of trying to make things look better so that they will love us. Yet it never happens. And so the lies continue.
Be open. Be real. Be who you truly are. Don’t try to look better than you are.
Only then will you experience the love you so desperately seek.
Practical Bible Teaching 