Truth
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ––John 14:6
There are two forces alone that shape and influence the hearts of men: truth and lies. Whatever wins that battle for a man’s heart wins the battle for his character. The character of a man drives his conduct, shaping his blast zone of influence. That conduct will create health and life or sickness and death for those around him.
That’s why we see Jesus defining Himself as truth and life. Satan is the direct opposite of Jesus: “the father of lies” (John 8:44) and the one “who holds the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14). And man is caught in the crossfire. The more we live in the truth, the more freedom we experience with God and people. The more we swallow the lies, the more slavery we experience in our flesh. This is why Jesus put in to His Father a special request for us before leaving earth.
Praying for His present and future disciples, He asked God to “make them holy— consecrated—with the truth” (John 17:17, msg). Why did He pray this? He knew that in the end, a strong relationship with truth on the part of His men would mean an equally adversarial relationship with evil and the devil.
The battle to be a man of truth is a battle fought on many fronts: He is able to be:
- honest with God;
- honest with himself;
- honest with others;
- teachable in the face of uncomfortable truth;
- good with reality, and not afraid of it;
- good at meeting the demands of reality and changing accordingly;
- use truth as a compass for decision-making;
- marinate in God’s truth in the Bible.
Truth is the way God says things are; truth is not what fits your feelings, it’s what the bright light shows the situation to be. Step into the light.
Father, you are the navigational source for my life, The North Star is an absolute.