lies

street post with Truth & Lie

Truthful Lips Endure Forever

By / 4 minutes of reading / , , ,

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Proverbs 12:19 (ESV)

Truth Has Been Redefined

The fruit of a lie is always bitter. Marriages can be destroyed by a single lie. Friendship can be shipwrecked by a single act of deception. Relationships built with lies are like houses built upon sand, they never survive hard times.

The odd thing about truth is that it appears to be so simple, so unassuming, so innocuous. Still, Jesus told us to boil the truth down to even less than what we know. He said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:37 ESV)

I’ve discovered that within my lifetime the meaning of “truth” has been redefined. Several lengthy conversations with people from younger generations have confirmed to me that “truth” is no longer recognized as a “factual thing”. Rather, truth is now believed to be subjective, situational, and malleable. However, I’ve also discovered that there is a hunger within most people for unambiguous, unaltered truth. That’s good news.

Truth Is A Liberator

The personification of truth is Jesus. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ESV) Truth is the device by which holiness is attained. Jesus prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Holiness should be the material from which our moral character is built “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)

Truth is a liberator. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) As we just read in John 17:17, God’s word is truth, and we see the Divine power of God’s Word in Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Ten things we learned about Truth

  1. Truth appears unassuming
  2. When answering binary questions (yes/no, true/false, etc.) we should answer simply. We should not try to bolster or expand upon the truth.
  3. When we talk with other people we need to understand that our definition of truth may not be the same as their definition.
  4. Truth finds its genesis within Jesus Christ.
  5. It is God’s requirement for us to be holy. The only means by which we can become holy is through truth.
  6. Truth sanctifies us (sets us apart), and this truth is found in the living Word of God which includes the Old Testament.
  7. Speaking to Father God, Jesus said, “Your word is truth.”
  8. If we live in God’s Word then we are truly disciples of Jesus.
  9. If we do remain in Jesus then the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Spirit of Truth) will reveal truths to us that are in God’s word which will set us free from “the sin that so easily entangles.” (Hebrews 12:1)
  10. We learned that the Word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

Prayer 

Father, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, John 14:26), who leads us into all truth. Thank you Jesus for communicating Your will and intent to us through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), and making Your Word alive, active, and powerful. Spirit, thank you for abiding in us, teaching us the truths of the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 2:13) as well as coming along side us (John 14:16-17) to guide and provide for us. And, Holy Spirit, thank you for filling believers who ask you for more. Oh, my God, how marvelous you are.

Father, I ask that you keep us, Your children, aware of the danger that lives inside every lie. Remind us continually that even though truth may appear inadequate, Your power is contained in truth, and Your power is released by Jesus when we ask within your will. Guide us into holy lives I ask. In all of these requests, I pray in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus. Amen.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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All truths are not to be spoken to all persons at all times

Fish Story

Sounds like a fish story to me!

By / 2 minutes of reading / ,

Fish Story:
Tom: I caught the largest fish of the day.
Fred: Really? When did you start fish’n?
Tom: I was in my boat by 4 am and fished until noon. You know, Bob, this might be the best day of fish’n I’ve ever had.
Fred: Well, I went this afternoon, and you didn’t ask me what I caught.
Tom: Oh, well, I didn’t want to embarrass you, Fred.
Fred: Well, what did you catch?
Tom: Now, Fred, it’s only right that you tell me yours, first.
Fred: Oh, I don’t mind, Tom. I caught a 17” Walleye. I’m gonna be fry’n it up for supper. So?
Tom: A Walleye! Wow, Fred, I was just talk’n about Bluegill. I nabbed me a 5” Bluegill.

The facts are never enough to know the truth. You must have the context along with the facts before you can discern the truth. Many times in life, we may be tempted to present the facts of a problem or event to our spouse or boss or friend in a way that exonerates us or casts doubt on someone else. This changing of the context is what we read in Acts 23:26-27. Claudius Lysias took the facts of Paul’s arrest and changed the meaning to make himself look like he did everything correctly. However, if we read Acts 22, we will see that what Claudius Lysias wrote in his letter to Governor Felix did not agree with what happened.

Acts 23:26-27, 
Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen.

The only thing more difficult than telling the truth is explaining a lie.

Photo by Colman Byrne on Unsplash

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