Trying to stop telling lies

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HAP0623

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Hi, I know lieing is a sin. I try not to, but at times I “add on” to stories and of course feel guilty afterwards. Does anyone have any advise on how to stop lieing? I pray a lot about it because its something that I really need to fix. Sorry, I know this is a stupid problem and it seems like I should just be able to stop, but for some reason its not that simple.
 
Make yourself admit when you told a lie. Let’s say you tell a story to your friend, you feel guilty - when you feel that guilt, go back to that friend, look her in the eye and say “I am sorry, I lied to you when I said ‘blah blah blah’”.

Forcing yourself to own up to what you did, to face the music, will be a lesson in growing up.

Prayers for you!
 
HAP0623 said:
Hi, I know lieing is a sin. I try not to, but at times I “add on” to stories and of course feel guilty afterwards. Does anyone have any advise on how to stop lieing? I pray a lot about it because its something that I really need to fix. Sorry, I know this is a stupid problem and it seems like I should just be able to stop, but for some reason its not that simple.
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It’s not uncommon to embellish a story to make it more entertaining or interesting. Rather than lie, when you get to that part where you are “adding on”…preface it with “imagine if,” and then add on whatever you think might make the story more interesting. That’s a first step.

Second, you might ponder why you think you need to embellish more than the average Joe.

Finally, click here to see the references to liars in scripture. Not necessarily a good outcome for the liar.

I have to confess as a salesman, I sometimes run into the same challenge. You want to entertain a client and it’s easy to spin a yarn. I’ve found using “imagine if” actually livens up the conversation sometimes because it gets the other person engaged. They start imagining all kinds of possibilities and suddenly they find talking with you more interesting.
 
If this has become a habit, it may be worthwhile to seek out a Catholic counselor to explore why you feel a need to do this. Not that there’s necessarily anything “wrong” with you, but there may be some easily corrected issues that are involved here.
 
Keep in mind: Lying takes too much memory. Truth-telling is easier.

If you really feel gulty, yet you’re still continuing to lie, then, you must not have had an embarrassing enough experience to help you stop.

There’s learning the easy way (an option still open to you) or the hard way (what I had to go through).

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
 
Hello there Hap,

I would like to weigh in on this.

May I know your age and gender?
 
Hi, 🙂
Is it that you don’t think you’re interesting enough if you don’t embelish your stories?
Do you perhaps not have a lot of self esteem, you don’t think as kindly of yourself as you’d like to be able to, or you fear that others don’t?
I just mean, is there some underlying cause for your untruths, something that needs to be healed?

Regards, Trishie
 
Remember when you talk to someone else, you are talking to Jesus.

Matthew 25:44-45 They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ "He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

So you would never lie to Jesus, right? So remember, not to lie to others, whom you are called to love! :o
 
In reading the book “Seven Capital Sins” by Mother Nadine Brown I quickly recognized that I had multiple sins working against me. Pride was a big one and would cause me to add to any story to make me look bigger. The book is great.

The book is very good, I did not think I had any anger issues until I read the book and then I realized I did.
 
Thanks for all the posts! Since I did this post, I havent lied and feel better about it, Im going to really work on it. I dont know why, its just easier to lie sometimes then to tell the truth. Sometimes it makes people less angry, like if I dont want to see one of my friends I just would say I was working or something, when in reality I wasnt. Just stupid stuff like that, I know its wrong, its taking the easy way out. What I did today was think before I said something, and made sure not to embellish on stories. Its such a stupid habit, I get so mad at myself for having trouble stopping. Thanks for the advise though, I really am taking it to heart. 🙂

Oh, Im a girl by the way.
 
You could have some psychiatric condition, such as Borderline Personality Disorder. You should see a professional counselor to have yourself evaluated.
 
There are a couple of approaches you could take. One is silence. Rememer you’re not obliged to tell everyone everything, only those who have some kind of right to know.

For example, if you don’t want to go out it’s fine to just say ‘sorry, I REALLY don’t feel like going out that night’ without having to give a specific reason. Or you can say something that’s true but not the whole truth - ‘I have other plans’ (they may involve just you, your couch and a pizza, but hey, that’s still plans!)

In other situations you can use lighthearted ways to indicate to someone that you may have been embellishing a story a bit - you can always end with ‘… at least that’s my story, and I’m sticking with it!’ or ‘… and right after that the pigs grew wings and started flying!’

Or you might just correct yourself casually as you’re speaking … ‘it was 15 minutes later … no, I tell a lie, more like half an hour’ or something of that nature. I don’t think it’d cause much of a ruckus if you put it that way.

Of course, if it’s something that you just want to curl up and scream rather than admit to in any way shape or form, honesty is best. Start with something like ‘this is really hard for me to admit, but …’ - usually gets the other person on side, since we’ve all been there!
 
Christians should worship Truth. It took many lies before I began to realize that fact and decided to place Truth up front. Keep wanting that and praying for it. God won’t refuse a desire for such a positive change.
 
HAP0623 said:
. Sometimes it makes people less angry, like if I dont want to see one of my friends I just would say I was working or something, when in reality I wasnt. .
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It is kindness to not hurt someone. When you do not want to see someone, say “I am not available to come on Saturday, thank you for the invitation”. No need to embellish, no need to lie.
 
Thats true. Thanks! There really is no need to embellish stories, being vague works too.

Im 22.
 
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