John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“It’s impossible to tolerate brazen lies, told straight to your face. Human nature rebels against it.” Irina Ratushinskaya, “Grey Is The Color of Hope”
The ongoing act of open dishonesty and deception is ludicrous. People don’t buy it. Practicing such behavior, living a lie, quickly becomes untenable even when bolstered up by the ‘stories’ we tell ourselves. Our ‘personal narratives’ to use the modern vernacular. It is no wonder that the enemy of human souls is described as the deceiver. It is his nature to lie in order to imprison his subjects. Deception and duplicity land a person in a jail cell from which it is difficult to escape. It literally takes a miracle to be freed.
Truth is the language of freedom. Thus, God came among us full of grace and truth. His truth, the Truth, sets us free and truly every breathing human longs for freedom. As we know the Truth, we are set free. Truth frees us from the things that imprison us, even from the lies we tell ourselves that seem to promise freedom. The truth that we have believed lies about ourselves is the first step toward true freedom. Everything good and right and holy is founded upon Truth.
I remember a real story of a young mother phoning her husband at work to complain about her very young daughter’s propensity toward deception. The exasperated mother almost shouted to her husband on the phone, loud enough for her daughter to hear, “You’re daughter is a big, fat liar”. The little one quickly replied with unexpected honesty, “I’m not fat!” Sometimes the truth about ourselves slips out in panicked moments of self protection. We know the truth about ourselves but consistently nurse little lies that seem to make us feel better about who we are. We humans can be so silly. The truth will set us free.
As the apostle Paul so clearly proclaimed in his letter to the Galatian church, “It is for freedom you have been set free.” May we have the humility and strength to turn our lying selves over to Jesus. Sometimes it means bravely asking Him to show us those lies. It is a terrifying prospect. We might hear something we don’t want to hear. Yet, His grace is sufficient. His mercy is new every morning. Great is His faithfulness to give true freedom. Nothing else compares.
Ventanas 