Question:

Is it okay to tell a little white lie if it is for something good?

Answer:

The Bible never makes a distinction between “little white lies” and “big black lies.”  One of the most outstanding features of Christ’s holy and sinless life was that “neither was guile [or deceit or lying] found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).  It is true that Rahab told a lie when she hid the spies.  She is never rebuked for lying and she ends up in the genealogy of Christ as King David’s great-great-grandmother.  But this does not condone her lying.  God has shown us many different ways He uses to protect His people from their enemies.  For example, He destroyed the pursuing army of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:27,28), He blinded the eyes of enemies of His people (Genesis 19:11; 2 Kings 6:18; Acts 13:11), and His Son, the Man Jesus Christ, was able to pass through crowds of His enemies unnoticed (John 8:59; 10:39).  So God does not put us in situations where we are obligated to lie in order to help other people (such as hiding the Jews from the Nazis during World War II).