Truth Part 1 - Verses
Truth
In Our Lives
God tells only the truth, He
cannot lie (Tit 1:2).
We must live in truth, be
sanctified by the truth when we fail (Jn 17:15-17), for we
will all lie (Mic 7:2).
And only those who accept the
truth will enter the
Truth guides us in
our everyday lives (Jn 16:12-14), and keeps us in the
family of God (Jn 14:6). Our Heavenly Father told us
not to lie, lying is a sin (Lev 19:11). Yet the number of lies told by average
individuals in a research study was over 7 lies an hour. Lies are constantly
made in business, social, personal, family, and even religious situations. We
also lie to ourselves, trying to make right that which we know is wrong, feel
is untruthful within our hearts. Attempting to justify those lies which will
give us an excuse for what we have done, what we want to do (Is 59:13). If we
continually hear the lie portrayed as the truth, or constantly try to justify
the lie within our own thoughts, we reach the point where we accept the lie,
believe the lie, and it replaces the truth in our minds (Ro 8:5-8). Without
truth one cannot discern right from wrong, know where they are heading, be
certain they are following Jesus (1Jn 2:4). We must continually seek the Spirit
to guide us through God’s Word, so we may walk in the light of the truth (Jn 3:21).
*We must face our lies:
1. We lie when we
exaggerate the truth, we lie when we try to spin, avoid, or twist the intent of
the truth. We must simply tell the whole truth as it was intended to be
conveyed (2Cor 2:14, Pr 30:6).
2. We should not
spread lies, slander others, nor confirm the lies of the world, of the crowds,
of any. But come forward and testify to the truth, without partiality, treating
everyone the same, whether rich, poor, famous or unknown (Ex 23:1-2, Lev 5:1,
19:15-16).
Satan, the father
of all lies, is craftily trying to adopt the world as his children, and too
many are accepting his invitation (Jn 8:44).
It is easy to
stray into Satan’s world of deceit, too easy to be bewitched by the fantasies
he spins, to believe the delusions he creates (Eph 6:12). Satan keeps creating
lies that seem proper, rational, appealing, needed, part of everyday life (2Cor
11:13). He keeps trying to seduce believers who have resisted his many other
falsehoods (Mk 4:15). Some of his lies now being accepted by the secular world
are as following:
# Truth is an old
fashion concept, telling the complete truth is no longer a virtue. Instead one
should lie if it makes others feel better (2Tim 4:2-4).
# If one gets what
they want in the end, the means by which it is obtained are justified, even if
a few little lies have to be told (Ja 3:14).
# Truth should be
used sparingly, be mixed with lies, twisted, and spun, because a lie can be a
better solution than the truth (Ro 1:25).
# Lies can help
one obtain the power, riches, and pleasures they deserve. Lies that are
self-serving, are not always bad (Pr 19:22).
# Lies can be
essential, they must be used by some to merely exist and survive. Lies used for
self preservation are a necessity (Is 32:7).
# Absolute truth
is no longer needed, for truth can have many different meanings depending on
how one perceives it (2Tim 3:7).
# Lies preserve
our ego, our pride, our stature, for we should not have to always admit when we
are wrong and look like a fool (Ps 59: 12-13).
Truth is the only
antidote that can preserve us from being deceived by these lies, from
committing them (2Cor 4:2). Truth allows one to resist the evil thoughts and
desires surrounding us (Ps 26:2-4). Truth alone allows us to hear only our Good
Shepherd’s voice, as Jesus guides and keeps us in His tender loving care (Jn 10:1-5).
*We must realize lying is evil:
1. We must
believe, accept, and know there is right or wrong, there is good and evil,
there are truths and lies (Jer 9:5).
2. There is not a
little innocent lie. All lies are evil whether we consider them a big fat lie,
or a little white lie. When we are around evil it grows on us, we soon become
part of it, and if we don’t get away from it we will be devoured by it (Ro
2:6-8). If we continuously lie, we soon live a lie, and if we don’t change we
will die a lie (Is 44:20).
3. We must keep
the intent in our hearts truthful in everything we do or say (Ps 15:2). We
should not deem ourselves truthful merely because we are more honest than
almost everyone we know, nor because we are honest almost all of the time,
especially on important matters. For our Heavenly Father does not compare us to
other people and almost is not acceptable to Him. Our Father knows whether His
truths are in our hearts, how much we love Him, how much we love others,
whether we follow His commands, including telling the truth (1Pe 1:22). And
when we fall short Jesus will forgive the sins of those who freely admit their
sins, including the lies we too often tell (Ps 116:11).
The people of the
world have been overwhelmed by their own lies, many consciences have become
dead to right or wrong, many thoughts are void of any reality or truth, many
are unaware of the lies that continually spew out of their mouths (Ps 34:13).
Society is only too anxious to believe the lies they desire to hear, live the
lies which give them worldly gain (Ro 16:18). The vast majority of the world is
devoid of the moral strength needed to withstand the evil wonders, the lies,
which Satan will orchestrate upon the world in the end times (2Thes 2:9). We
must all pray, work towards bringing the truth of the Gospels to all people, so
they may meet Jesus before it is too late, before the Spirit is taken away from
them (Ro 11:25). Truth in love is needed throughout the world, within our
Christian families, within our own families, within our marriages, within our
own thoughts, in our own words. Truth in love is needed in everything that is
said or done (Eph 4:15).
*We must realize accepting lies, telling
lies becomes a habit. We must verify what we believe, monitor what we say:
1. We must make
sure what we believe, think, confer, or say is true and factual. We should not
accept concepts or ideas merely because important people are saying them,
because many people are repeating them, because they are on television or
radio. We should not accept something to be true because it sounds reasonable,
because we want to believe it, or because it can make our lives easier, more
pleasurable for us. We should seek the truth (Jer
5:1), only acknowledge that which we know to be the truth (2Thes 2:10). Then
our lips should only repeat these truths (2Cor 6:7).
2. We can let the
truth be known in different ways. We should always tell the truth, but also let
our lives, our actions show that we are Christians, that we believe in the
truth, that we walk in the truth (2Cor 13:8).
The only place to
obtain the truth is in God’s Word (
Copyright
2009 by Ron Borkey