The Truth About Truth

If you have been following me the past few months, then you know that I’ve been discussing different categories of lies, and how these lies cause us a lot of unhappiness. I hope that these articles have encouraged you to take steps toward confronting these, and to move toward a life based on truth. While recognizing and rejecting lies is a major move in the right direction, I think that there are certain realities about truth that you should be aware of.

First of all, truth doesn’t come all at once. We cannot receive all truth in a once in a lifetime experience. It is more like putting together one of those 1000 piece puzzles. We experience frustration as we try to fit the pieces together, but if consistently work at it, the picture will eventually come together.

We need to understand that lies do not fit into the picture we are working on. Yet, these lies did not get into our lives overnight, and they will not instantly disappear. Therefore, we need to be very patient as we make the transition from lies to truth.

So many people today are searching for truth. I believe that this inborn desire to know truth is designed to lead us to God, the Source of all truth. Truth belongs to God, and it is through His power that we are able to put the most important pieces together so that our lives will have order and purpose. We cannot rely on what feels true, what someone says is true, or what we read in a popular book or magazine. We must search out what the Word of God says and live by it. Only then will we have real truth working on our behalf.

We learn many facts about life through things that we experience, but God must reveal the critical pieces to us. Often we will be confronted by countless situations in which we are helpless to change a single thing. We may even feel abandoned or trapped. If we accept the bible as God’s Word, then we have a guide. We are better able to interpret our world in light of God’s eternal purpose rather than the stress of the moment.

One reason many individuals believe lies is because lies allow them to temporarily escape pain. Students lie to teachers to escape the pain of not doing their homework. Teens lie to parents to escape the pain of punishment for coming home late. Taxpayers lie on taxes to escape the pain of paying extra money to the government. While lies may get us by for a while, it will eventually catch up with us. Then we will experience the real pain.

Most of us do not like to hear the truth because the truth hurts (or so we've been told). I recently had a problem with my automobile, so I took it to a mechanic. He told me the truth about the cause of the problem and the cost of the repair was painful. I swallowed hard and gave him permission to fix it. But now I again have dependable transportation without the fear of being stranded. It is the same way with my physician. I want him to level with me by telling me the truth about my x-rays, blood work, and whatever abnormality he finds on me exam. I want to know the truth so that I will have something secure to act upon.

When we understand the price of commitment to truth, it is easier to understand why so many people would rather live with lies. They have become so secure, that giving up their lies is not even a remote consideration.

Believing the truth does not mean that we will not have doubts. Doubt helps us to test the truth of what we hear. I encourage people to not just blindly accept what I preach and teach as the ultimate or final authority. It is their responsibility to search the Word and to be sure that what they have heard is the truth. Ultimately, the truth that you know will be the thing that breaks down the bondage's in your life; not what I told you was true. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world 1 John 4:1. I am not the least bit offended if someone questions or disagrees with something that I've taught or written. I would much rather you search the scriptures to get understanding than to get run out of your clothes (see Acts 19: 14,15). Simply put, we need to know "why we believe" "what we believe".

I met my wife Lindia in church. We were both members of the same local congregation. I was totally sold out to what was preached and never doubted one thing. I was taught and believed that doubting was a sin. But Lindia was more of a free thinker. She wasn't convinced about a lot of what was taught, and it is odd that she was even content to be there.

After we got married, this issue became a source of occasional conflict for us. But God, through His infinite wisdom, led me to the point to where I needed to know why I believed what I believed. You see, if Lindia had been in another denomination, I might not have been permitted to marry her without backsliding and bringing our future together under a curse. After all, other churches didn't get the revelations like we did.

Listen. It's hard to buck the crowd. It is very difficult to go against the flow. But I can tell you from experience that the crowd can be many light years off course. The crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus thereby releasing a murderer into their midst and crucifying the Lord of Heaven. If we were in the crowd, I wonder what we would have shouted. Would we have followed popular opinion, or would we have been a courageous person, stepped out of the crowd and said, "I don't care what the rest of you think, I'm going to stand by what I believe to be true and vote to release Jesus."

We all talk about doubting Thomas, the disciple who refused to believe in the resurrection. But there is one thing about that incident that I think we should notice. Once Jesus gave Thomas the exact evidence he wanted, Christ demanded that Thomas believe. "Then said he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing". Doubt is good, but only to a point. But we shouldn't need repeated proof of the same truth over and over again. That is unbelief.

When all is said and done, truth will last forever. Truth is pure and strong, and nothing can cause it to fail. Lies may seem to be well rooted and growing, but don't let that fool you. The end of every lie is deception. The bottom line is that in the end truth will give us the victory.