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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Two Truths And A Lie

Have you ever played the game "two truths and a lie"? If you haven't, I will explain the nature of the game. Basically, I would come up with three statements about myself. Two of them would be true, and one of them would be a lie, and the object is for the other person to guess which statement is a lie. Here is an example:

1. I have performed on the Ryan Seacrest Show
2. I made it to Hollywood on American Idol
3. My cousin won the Masters Golf Tournament 2 times.

Now, the object would be to guess which of these three statements is not true. I will just tell you that I never made it to Hollywood on American Idol. I tend to think I could come close, but that's beside the point :)

 Anyway, the interesting thing about this game is that it's very possible for a lie to seem like it's true, and for a truth to seem like it's a lie. This brings about an interesting question. How can you know if something is a lie? I contend that the only way to know if something is a lie, is to know what the truth is. For example, I could tell you that I did make it to Hollywood, and the only way you could actually know if I were lying, is if you had evidence of the truth; or if you personally knew that I did not, in fact, make it to Hollywood.

This is such an important concept as a believer. Even using that word, "believer", implies in a belief that something is true. The reason why this is important is because, as the game demonstrated, lies can actually deceitfully present themselves in such a way that could convince us that they are actually true. Sometimes lies seem like the truth. To get personal, sometimes the way we feel about something we know to be a lie, makes us actually want it to be the truth, and therefore stand on it as if it were the truth. Sometimes, though we would say with our mouths that we believe that something is a lie, our hearts may actually be believing that it is the truth. So, again, the only way to know that something is a lie, is to know what the truth is. Here are some examples of lies that the culture tells us about ourselves, that we often believe to be true:

1. Women must be sexy and revealing to be beautiful. (seems like that is truth, right?)
2. Men must be rich and powerful to be respected. (seems like that is truth, right?)
3. In the end, money really will make you happy. (seems like that is truth, right?)

 These are very simple, general lies that we are all familiar with, but you get the picture. Again, the only way to know that these are lies, is to replace them with the truth. For example:

1. "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Prov 31: 30)
2. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:10)
3. "For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil." (1 Timothy 6:10)

 Knowing that we often fall prey to even the simplest, most direct and obvious lies that are given to us, how much more important is it to know the truth, when considering lies that we are believing that we may not even be aware of? What about lies concerning what we believe about God? I do not know what all of these specific lies may be, but one thing I do know, is that there are lies that each one of us are believing that are simply not true. Not just that, but we are not even aware that many of these are even lies. They seem true to us, so they must be true. Again, the only way to know if they are lies, is to KNOW THE TRUTH! Ephesians 6:14 says, "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth." The only way to extinguish the lies that will be thrown in our direction, is to know that they are not true; and the only way that we can know that they are not true, is to know the truth. In this case, the truth is His Word. I fear that we have taken feelings, and the way that things seem, and claim them to be true, without actually considering what the truth really is. I know that this is the most overly used Sunday School answer ever, but the reality still remains; we must read our Bibles more.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

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