Why Truth Matters
Picture yourself on the bottom of the deepest ocean trench under 36,000 feet of lies. That’s reality. “Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning” (Jeremiah 9:5, NIV).
People pattern themselves unconsciously after the father of lies (John 8:44). Their words are weapons to get what they want.
Politicians state the “truth” in ways that support their grip on power or their reach for it. With a few exceptions, after an election in the USA, we could ask one another, “For which liar did you vote?” Self-serving “truth” is falsehood in an evening gown or a tuxedo.
Like politicians, people sometimes dress up the portion of the truth that achieves what they want and conveniently neglect the whole truth. We naturally suppress the whole truth (Romans 1:18).
Like politicians, we sooner or later demonstrate our untrustworthiness. When others discover our lies, whether it is one or 100, their trust in us leaks away like air through a hole in a balloon. It’s no wonder people don’t trust one another.
Not all truths we were taught are consistent with facts or reality. Outside, I walk with my eyes on the ground about four or five feet ahead of me. Why? Because my father was very afraid of snakes.
He taught me to walk like that to detect any snakes that might be in my path. As a kid, I never discovered a single snake that way. Nevertheless, I still walk that way.
Many of the “facts” that shape how we think and live, like my focus on the ground, aren’t consistent with facts or reality. The lies we believe about God are the most damaging of all.
We trade the truth about Him for lies. We worship and serve created things instead of Him (Romans 1:25). So, how do we surface from under 36,000 feet of lies?
We must reprogram how we think and how we live. “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” (Psalm 25:5, NIV).
Jesus is our model. His words and life define what’s important. He claims to be the truth (John 14:6). He came into the world to testify to the truth (John 18:37).
He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NIV). His truth sets us and others free (John 8:32). A knowledge of and believing in it saves us from eternal separation from God (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
It gives us spiritual life (James 1:18). By God’s grace through faith in Jesus, the Spirit of truth lives in us (John 14:17). He guides us into all the truth (John 16:13). That truth reprograms how we think (John 17:17). It nourishes us (1 Timothy 4:6). It leads us to godliness (Titus 1:1). We become more like Jesus by obeying it (1 Peter 1:22).
Jesus speaks the truth in love. He is the head of the body of all believers. As His body, we too must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Those who are unconsciously imitating the father of lies won’t, but we must put off falsehood and speak truthfully (Ephesians 4:25). Truth matters to God. That’s why it matters to us. #freechristiandiscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources