Should You Lie to Your Children About Santa Claus?
No. No you shouldn't.
The Bible plainly states that God does not lie, nor is lying compatible with His nature.
“God, that cannot lie” — Titus 1:2
If God cannot lie, then lying cannot be His will. Truth is not just something God prefers. Truth is who God is. When believers knowingly speak falsehoods, even in the name of tradition or sentiment, they step away from reflecting His nature.
Parents are given a sacred trust. Children are commanded to learn truth from their mother and father, not fantasy presented as reality. When a child asks direct questions and receives deliberate false answers, trust is quietly undermined. Even if the lie is eventually “revealed,” the lesson learned is that deception is acceptable if it feels good or preserves a moment. The Bible never presents truth that way.
Jesus Himself draws a sharp line between truth and lies. He identifies Satan as the source of deception, saying:
“He is a liar, and the father of it” — John 8:44
Lies do not originate from innocence or imagination. They originate from the same source that has always sought to distort truth. That should give every Christian parent pause before participating in a story that requires sustained, intentional deception.
Some argue that Santa is just pretend, but children are not told it is pretend. They are told he is real. They are instructed to behave differently because of him. They are corrected, warned, and even disciplined using him as a moral authority. That is not imagination but indoctrination into believing a falsehood as truth.
This is not about being harsh or joyless. It is about grounding joy in reality rather than fantasy. Children do not lose wonder when they are told the truth. They gain something far better: confidence that their parents value honesty and that God’s Word can be trusted without embellishment.
If God cannot lie, and if lying is contrary to His nature, then it cannot be His will for parents to lie to their children. Truth matters, especially in the small, formative moments that shape how a child understands the world, their parents, and ultimately, God Himself.