Picture this: you go to pour your morning coffee in your favorite mug but there it is, broken in the cupboard. But wait—when you ask who broke it, no one in your house has touched it! It must have broken itself!

Lying isn’t always done with a malicious heart. People, especially children, tend to lie in fear of consequences, unsure of how telling the truth will punish them. Whatever the intent, there’s no getting around the fact that lying is a sin, listed right there in the 10 Commandments.

A home that celebrates honesty, even when it’s hard to hear the truth, is one step toward getting your daughter to stop telling lies. Open communication about the small stuff, like broken coffee mugs, opens the door to bigger issues she may face in the years to come.

Listen to the Raising Godly Girls Minute with Patti Garibay: