The Couple Who Lied to God

In the early church, Christians loved to share with each other. When someone needed help, others would sell their things and give the money to the apostles to share with everyone. It was beautiful to see people being so generous and kind! Everyone was helping each other like one big, happy family.

A man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira decided to sell some land they owned. That was a nice thing to do! But then they came up with a sneaky plan. They would keep some of the money for themselves, but tell everyone they were giving it all. They wanted people to think they were super generous, even though they really weren't. They both agreed to lie together.

When Ananias brought the money to Peter, he pretended it was all the money from the sale. But Peter knew the truth because the Holy Spirit told him! Peter asked Ananias, 'Why did you let Satan fill your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? The land was yours. The money was yours. You didn't have to give it all. But why did you lie about it? You didn't just lie to people; you lied to God!' When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died right there. Everyone was shocked and scared!

Three hours later, Sapphira came in. She didn't know what had happened to her husband. Peter gave her a chance to tell the truth. He asked, 'Did you sell the land for this amount?' pointing to the money Ananias had brought. Sapphira could have been honest, but she chose to keep lying. 'Yes,' she said, 'that's how much we sold it for.' Peter said, 'How could you and your husband agree to test God's Spirit? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out too.' Immediately, Sapphira fell down and died, just like her husband.

This was a very serious and sad story. God showed everyone in the church that lying is very, very serious, especially lying to Him. God sees everything, even our secret plans and our hearts. The whole church became afraid and learned an important lesson: always tell the truth and be honest, especially with God. God doesn't need our lies or our fake goodness. He wants our honest hearts, even if we're not perfect. It's always better to be truthful than to pretend to be something we're not.