I have a confession to make: I lied to two RAs in the past week.

Of course, this shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, considering that I, like the rest of humanity, have a fallen nature that wants to sin.

While I didn’t think it was necessary to confess my fib to them on the spot, I realized that what I did was wrong.

Now before an investigation begins and I get demerits, I feel I should explain my dishonesty.

No matter how much I cried “uncle,” college showed me no mercy last week.

I was working on two projects and attempting to finish an assignment before midnight (you know the feeling).

As I scrambled across campus in the early evening, I ran into my RA walking with another RA. As we passed, one asked, “what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” slipped out as my mind and legs continued racing.

What I hadn’t grasped at the time was the normality of my white lie.

Dr. Anita Kelley, a resident professor at the University of Notre Dame, claims that U.S. citizens lie 11 times per week.

Also, according to a study by the Australian ad agency The Works, the most common lie for men and women is, “Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine.”

These lies are seemingly    small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Because of this, even though we know God commands us to be honest, it’s easy to continue lying.

And while glorifying God, being our chief goal in life, should be enough to convince us to be honest, it’s interesting to see telling the truth has additional benefits.

For example, according to a study done by the previously mentioned Dr. Kelley, being honest improves mental and physical health.

Honesty can also help build healthier relationships.
College often encourages shallow interactions.

Because everyone is so wrapped up in their own work, it’s sometimes difficult to find the time to be open to each other.

As students rush past each other in hallways or sidewalks, the easiest way to acknowledge each other is to ask how the other is doing and give a curt response about how you’re “All right.”

These surface-level relationships with our peers  could go deeper if we dove in with an honest answer rather than perpetuating a culture of dishonesty.

And if you don’t desire to be a downer, perhaps stating that you are blessed is best. As God’s children, there couldn’t be a more honest response.

While we don’t need to be completely transparent to everyone we pass on the sidewalk, we have allowed dishonesty to enter our conversation to make personal interactions easier.

As a community of Christians, we need to remember Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 4:25:

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.”

While lying is more prevalent than we’d like to admit, perhaps, with sufficient help from the Lord, we can pull ourselves out of this dishonest ditch.

Or we can just say we’re doing fine.