Something to think about: Flattery.

Hello! I would say something like, "It's been a while," but this is only my third post. I'm not saying something like that after only 2 posts. Anyway, while I was at Brook Hills today during the service, a random thought came into my head (God uses this method quite a bit to get my attention). The thought was this: "there is no deception of any kind that does not involve flattery." I wrote it down and put it out of my mind for the time being, but when I came back to it, I realized the truth (and the meaning) of it.

First, allow me to give a definition of flattery. Flattery, according to Google dictionary, is "Excessive and insincere praise." Bearing that in mind, think about this with me. If you're lying to someone, what are you really doing? Telling them that you would not, did not, would do, or did do something, when the opposite is true. In doing this, you are either flattering yourself --"of course I would do this for you, I'm a good person." or "I would never do something like THAT!"-- or you are flattering them -- "I would never do anything to hurt YOU!" Think of every kind, sort, or fashion of deceit. No matter what it is, I guarantee that you can find some way that flattery connects to it.

What's the point, though? So deception involves flattery. Big deal, right? I believe it is. I believe it's a perfect picture of man's heart.

When we are deceptive, we are breaking God's laws. This is enough to separate us from God forever and condemn us (without Christ) to hell. If it's that bad, though, why do we ever practice deceit? In the moments we are deceitful, we state by our actions that we don't think God is God. If we are acknowledging Him as Lord of heaven and earth, why would we ever want to flatter anyone? If flattering someone is lavishing "excessive and insincere praise" on them, we are placing them above God when we flatter them. Remember what happened when Moses tried putting himself EQUAL with God once? Not pretty. Placing another human on level with or above God is a major deal, and one of the reasons Solomon says that God hates a lying tongue (Proverbs 6: 16-17).

This hits home for me, but I believe all of us can get something from it. If we profess to follow Christ, we can't put other things in front of Him.

I wasn't expecting to say anything close to this, and I really hope it all made sense...