The Bible in Proverbs 10:6 says, “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” The second half of that proverb tells us something profound:  deceit is a regular feature and a common tactic of wickedness. Wickedness often runs behind deceit so that it can get by with what it wants to do. It makes you think it is doing one thing but is actually doing something totally different. And often, what it is doing is violent. It’s causing harm to somebody else in some way.

Beloved, we must be clear:  deceit is wickedness. It defiles us. Jesus said in Mark 7, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil [things, including] deceit. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” We’re told in 1 Peter 2:1 to “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” It should not be a part of who we are.

Instead, we are to be truthful. We are to be honest. We are to be straightforward. And as our proverb says today, “Blessings are on the head of the righteous.” Wanna be blessed? Then rid yourself of all deceit.

Change begins in you!