The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Years ago, after my grandmother passed away my siblings and I found a love letter buried deep in a chest of stored treasures. The man apologized and told her he would never hurt her again. His name was not my grandfather's name. My heart broke for her. She had known love and lost it. And, it meant enough to her that she kept the letter all those years. My dad had been right.

"The truth always comes out," he shared with me somewhere along the line.

Do you have a truth you're hiding? Do you think someone else is hiding a truth?

To hide a truth is to be part of a lie. The word "lie" sounds so wrong, but it can look good. Lies can even look right, while being completely wrong. Lies can look like the better way to go. They are by nature deceptive, so of course they can be hard to recognize. And, in today's culture, hiding the truth has become easier. It can be smothered beneath the weight of lies, thus making it to hard to find.

So where and how do we find truth? What is the truth? How do we know when we've found it? Or, maybe, you think there are no lies in your life.

The first thing to do is ask God to show if there are any lies in us. God is truth. He is the light that shines out on the darkness and exposes the truth. (1 John 1:5-7) He will show the truth. He will expose lies.

While waiting for an answer, an open mind is key. Try not to explain it away. Sometimes the truth is hard to receive and accept. (John 1:5; 8:12) But you can do it.

The next thing is to focus beyond us. So much deception has been published and placed on the airways, it makes it difficult to know the truth. Each side believes they know the truth, but only God Almighty knows what is true. Let us all pray and ask God to show the truth sooner than later. Let's ask that He expose the lies that have deceived so many. Let us thank Him for the truth He is going to show.

After all, the truth always comes out.

What? I'm Wrong?

Have you ever been so certain that you were right that you put everything you have into some action or some way of thinking? Then you see it fall apart in front of you? What do you do with that? For years I took pleasure in being right. If I was told I did something wrong, I'd reasoned and gave excuses for my actions. I don't remember ever saying I was wrong. It was extremely hard to admit I was wrong.

Then one day I witnessed someone admit a wrong. She immediately went her way without any embarrassment or shame on her face. It baffled me.

So, I decided to try it. The next time I was accused of a wrong then I would admit it. That is, if that time ever came. Sure enough...it did. My nerves were on fire and my stomach was doing flips. Taking a deep breath I said those tough words quickly, almost spitting them out.

To my surprise, an amazing thing happened.

A weight was lifted from my shoulders. I felt a freedom I did not know was missing. 

It had been so hard to say those words because I felt it would show I was weak. I thought it would lower how others looked at me. Sometimes there was a disbelief that I could be wrong. No way. Sometimes I've even thought I had heard the Lord direct in one way, but I was wrong. Like so many others, I wanted to be right, but it turned out to be my own thoughts. Scripture tells us about this. Proverbs 21:2 says that man sees his own way as right. To admit wrong, feels like it will break something inside of us. That's why we still act and think that anything we do is the right thing. (See Judges 21:25)

But, I'm here to say that is a lie from the enemy of God.

There is freedom and hope in admitting a wrong.

To this date I admit wrongs done. Sometimes to myself, sometimes to a person, sometimes only to Jesus. Each time I express guilt, the freedom grows.

I know it's not easy. Sometimes the best things in life are not easy to do. Sometimes we have to take a deep breath and dive in. Saying you're wrong can be one of those. I can't make you do it, but I can tell you, you'll be glad when you do. There's nothing like the freedom you get when you admit being wrong.