To love the truth is to love Jesus, because Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Yet, we claim that we love Jesus while we turn our backs on the truth in exchange for such things as acceptance from others, safety and ease for ourselves, and self-justification for our own lie-based feelings. So do we actually love the truth? When it comes down to it, do we put truth first above all other values? We explain away our agreement to lie to others as socially acceptable, not wanting to hurt anyone else, even claiming it is Christian to keep our mouths shut if what we would say may upset someone. We justify our agreement to lie to ourselves because the lies “feel” true to us, because it gives us a reason to deflect responsibility and remain a victim, because we find it “hard” to embrace the truth, and/or because we abdicate our personal authority to choose truth to external forces like other people’s opinions or the enemy’s machinations, leaving us like “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14).
The word, “truth,” is mentioned over 100 times in the New Testament alone. Jesus overtly stated, over and over again, “I tell you the truth” as He was teaching a new idea or Kingdom concept. Truth and freedom are inextricably bound together, and we cannot have one with the other (John 8:32). Satan, the enemy of God, is identified as “the father of lies” (John 8:44). The “belt of truth” is the first weapon mentioned in the armor of God, and it is the one item that holds all other weapons in place (Ephesians 6:14). All of these things let us know that truth is highly valued in the Kingdom, and lies are the only weapon of the enemy. Yet, we still hold onto lies in our hearts, and we willingly invite Satan to dine at our table by openly lying, omitting, obfuscating, doubting, and giving in to deception.
If we viewed lie beliefs as the actual poison that they are, we would be diligent and persevering in pursuing and embracing truth in all things and at all times. If I handed you a bowl of nuclear waste to drink, you would run screaming into the wilderness to get away from me. With the enemy, however, simply because he calls the nuclear waste something sweet, we willingly drink it up. If we find ourselves drowning, we will use any and all means necessary to try to survive, including tackling anyone who tries to rescue us to climb above water, pulling them under. Again, if we realized that truth is oxygen and that without it we are drowning, we would do anything necessary to get rid of those lies so that we could breathe.
I encourage you to reframe your understanding of truth. See lies as poison, as death, as drowning. See truth as air. See truth as freedom. See truth as Jesus.
