How much Truth?

"The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche


      How much truth does it take to please God?  Over the last months it seems God is highlighting in a neon yellow every white lie being told around me.  I would guess this is a lesson for me.  I have been accused of being too honest at times.  Can a person be too honest?  If you don't want to know if your butt looks big, don't ask me. 
     The most difficult lie to call BS on is one of motive.  We don't know what is in another's heart.  How can we even question motives?  Some lie out of being misled by others.  Some lie out of interpretation of what they heard or saw and that is not really a lie.  It is their truth. Maybe one's truth is not truth to another.  Possibly, it's a bad memory that causes a lie.
     But what to do when you know it is a lie, a deliberate untruth?  When do we call it out and when do we let it go?  If I hear a person lie more than once, I struggle to believe anything they say.  If they give me a word from God, I don't believe it.  Because the only reason to lie is to manipulate another's thinking.  Usually it is to please man so they don't see who we truly are.  Or it is to get what we want.  Lying is selfish and manipulating. 
     We have to ask God if He is showing us these things for us to call it out, to check ourselves, or to see the brokenness in a person and to pray healing.  My issue with it, is that my life, the life of an abused person is usually full of lies and secrets and I get a really bad taste in my mouth.  Do I think it is possible for us to be 100% truthful all the time?  Not really.  But is it intentional or is it as simple as saying "I am fine" when we are not?  That seems to be an acceptable lie.
     I believe there are two kinds of intentional liars.  The one who wants to have control of a situation or people and the one who only has the intention of controlling the other's perception of who they are.  Both of these are caused by insecurity.  The need to control is out off fear, whether it's controlling a situation or controlling a perception. 
     Maybe this is why lies hurt.  If you lie to me it is because you don't trust me to care about you if I know the truth.  And obviously you don't trust God.  To not trust God, I believe, is caused by not knowing your identity in Him.  What has He spoken to me when I hear somebody has told a lie about me?  You worry about your integrity and let Him worry about your reputation.  This is really difficult at times.  The Lord has repeatedly told me not to defend myself.  That is a hard habit to break.  To me this is the ultimate test of my trust in Him.  Especially when He tells me, to follow Him, I will be hated.  I have gotten a good taste of that. 
      So, how do you handle a person who lies?  Exactly how God tells you to handle that person.  It may be different than the last one.  He may have you confront and He may have you be quiet.  They know they are lying so to point it out seems pointless.  What is the real problem with being in a relationship with a liar?  You don't really know who they are.  God does.  We are to trust Him.  He does not lie.  Ever.

“I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it--and that's all I got.”
― Sabrina Ward Harrison