Candy Gate

I was twelve years old when it all started. I had just moved up from sixth grade to seventh, and accompanying the new challenges came quite a few unexpected perks–namely the candy jar. The candy jar was an attempt by my sweet mother to simultaneously both raise my morale and my motivation during school. After each assignment I completed, I would receive one piece of candy. Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t long before the taste of sugar possessed my brain, crushing reason and leaving me wholly addicted to the contents of the jar. Before long I was sneaking candy.

It wasn’t long after this that my operation experienced its first complication: evidence.

In my incredibly intelligent 12-year-old mind, my solution was to hide the wrappers around the house. Why I didn’t just throw them away, I have no clue, but the point is I was rapidly running out of room to stash the wrappers. Additionally, as my insatiable appetite for sugar grew, I found myself compromising my integrity more and more to keep people from finding out. You’ve heard of a “skeleton in the closet?” Well, I had dozens of sour patch kids in mine.  

All joking aside, what I was doing was sinful and the consequences, though maybe not immediate, were destructive all the same. As my familiarity and comfort with lying increased, my moral standard gradually began to corrode. Before long, sugar was not the only thing I was dishonest about school projects, responsibilities, and my personal life had all become tainted with deceit. Worse still, my efforts to come clean were paralyzed because of the fear I had of what people would think and the punishments I would receive for my choices.

Proverbs 6:16 says, “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Emphasis added).

The reality is, lying is something that pushes us further away from God. The devil uses this isolation to instill fear, shame, and hopelessness in us.  

In one of my favorite books, Little Britches, one character describes the process of compromising our morality for temporary convenience. “A man’s character is like his house. If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin. If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn’t do but wants to, his character will soon become a ruin.” When I lied to get what I wanted and to cover up what I had lied about, the effects on me were more than just sleep deprivation from high blood sugar and a mouth full of tooth decay; I dealt severe injury to my character that ultimately took years to rebuild.  

Eventually, the wrappers were discovered, the cavities were fixed, and I had to face the consequences I had been avoiding and intensifying with my lies. Although the process was painful, I’m thankful that my dishonesty didn’t last a moment longer than it did. When we are choosing to actively live in sin, we are choosing to actively live apart from God. So please, if you have a secret you’ve been living in or have twisted the truth for your convenience, tell your parents or a pastor. Put away the Reese’s and seek forgiveness, you won’t regret it!  

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of TeenPact Leadership Schools. To learn more about our Vision & Values, please visit teenpact.com/vision-values/.