The danger of lies

1. They seem like an easy out. Is someone asking for your help with something you really don't want to do? It may seem simple just to tell them you've already got plans. But that isn't fair to either of you.
2. They offer a way to hide guilt. Accidentally break a window, or forget to do something you promised to do? Telling a little lie to turn the attention away from you isn't worth it. That little lie will lead to other lies, until you forget what the truth actually was.
3. They seem to give you what you want. A friend asks if something they found belongs to you. It doesn't, but you really want that object. So you lie and say yes. Sometimes, you'll be found out. Other times, you won't. But what about that person whose thing you just claimed? Did you think about how they will feel?
4. They offer conditional protection. Sometimes you'll be put into a position where you either have to stand up for your beliefs and possibly suffer, or lie and avoid the danger. Is that lie worth sacrificing your beliefs?
5. They let you hide. Lying about how you feel just to keep others from worrying, or to avoid making others uncomfortable, is dangerous. The layers those lies create are difficult to remove, and often leave you feeling worse than if you'd just told the truth.
6. They can provide a false sense of security. When things aren't going well, pretending that everything is fine can seem like the best thing to do. But there is a difference between pretending things are fine and having a positive attitude. A positive attitude can bring hope to yourself and others, which can help improve the situation. Pretending that everything is fine can lead to ignoring the problems until they grow so large that they cannot be ignored. By then, it is difficult to make changes to improve the situation.
7. They are destructive. A lie is not a self-contained thing. It effects everyone around it. The person telling and the person told, the people involved in whatever the lie is about, the people who are told the lie by those believing it to be truth, and the liar's family. Once a lie has been told, it is difficult to kill it without causing some kind of harm.
8. They drain you of happiness. Lies hurt your heart. Once you begin lying, your perception of others becomes tainted. You start wondering who else is lying, and begin to see dishonesty everywhere. Bitterness creeps in when you lose trust in others, and then that bitterness transforms into anger or grief. Sure, at first the lie seems to give you whatever you wanted. But a happiness built upon lies is like a sand castle in a storm.
9. Lies are addictive. It only takes one lie. If you get away with it, then the urge to tell another will be harder to resist. On and on it goes, until you won't even realize at first that a lie has slipped out.
10. They harm relationships. Any lie, even a tiny one, will cause others to lose some of their trust in you once they find out that you've lied to them. It will be hard to earn that trust back once you've lost it. And even if you do, that relationship will not return to what it was like before the lie.