John 8:44 ESV You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

When we learn about the mentality and tactics of domestic abusers, sociopaths, narcissists and all that entire company of wicked ones, we see that in so many (and I suppose we could even say “all”) of their methods, lying is at the root of the thing. Deception. Slander. Reviling. Crazy-making. Accusing. All of it is based upon this one fundamental evil – lying.

You notice in the Scripture above why this is the case. The devil is not only a liar, he is the father of lies. He is the originator of lying. And he spawns lying offspring. If the devil’s mouth is open, he is lying. And so it is with his sons and daughters.

Now, it is long past time for us to believe this. No matter how smooth, how convincing, how sincere-sounding the devil’s children are, if their lips are moving, they are lying. To one degree this is true of all people who are not in Christ. Lying and sin go hand in hand. But there are these more polished, sophisticated, convincing evil-doers who lie that we want to consider here.

If we are going to stop being duped by them, we have to acknowledge and believe that these seeds of Satan can look us square in the eye without blinking, they can look right into the camera, and lie with no pangs of conscience or guilt. You have seen it often in the media when an abuser who murdered his wife pleads with the public to please find his beloved and bring her home safe to him. Then later it turns out the guy had murdered her himself. And everyone says, “it can’t be. Look how he even had tears in his eyes.”

In our ignorance and arrogance (and that is a deadly combination) we are prone to believe evil false reports about victims made by wicked liars, and to disbelieve true reports made by victims! Read that last sentence again. It is mind-blowing. But we must admit it. There is a tendency in us if we aren’t wise to believe the wicked and discount the righteous. And I think that partly this is reinforced by a couple of things:

1. The wicked are smooth-talkers. They are skilled at their deceptive trade.
2. The righteous, especially abuse victims, have doubts about what is happening to them. They don’t exude to confidence and cunning that the wicked do.

So let’s wise up here in regard to this thing. Mr. Abuser, you are lying. How do I know? Because I know what you are. And I know that you are talking. Just like your father the devil, you speak out of your own character. And I am on to you.