In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Professor Kirk Hanson at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics discusses the unique ethical hurdles many entrepreneurs face. Professor Hanson contends that the life of an entrepreneur is filled with temptations.

Many of those temptations revolve around lying. It can start at the beginning as many entrepreneurs lie to their prospective investors in order to raise capital.

Lying can then spread deeper into the business. According to the article, 13% of small company entrepreneurs lie to their employees and 10% lie to their customers.

Proverbs 21:6 warns, “The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.”

If the pursuit of success in business tempts you to lie, remember that lying will eventually bring death to a business.