Lies

Untruth is amazingly easy to believe, especially when we are faced with so many conflicting perspectives. A medical school professor taught me that patients will often believe their grandmother before they believe their doctor, and this has certainly been my experience. We chose to believe lies rather than truth for many reasons.

A recent trip to Central Europe illuminated one of those reasons. During a discussion I offered to provide scientific data to someone. His response, "You can send it to me, and I may read it, but I won't believe it," mirrored what often happens in my own life. I choose to believe what I have always believed without a willingness to challenge my own ideas in order to ensure that they are in line with the truth. Tradition, past habits and pride often stand in the way of the pursuit and acceptance of truth.

Two years ago I began asking people this question, "Is there a lie your heart tends to believe, despite the fact that you know in your mind that it is an untruth?" The responses have been revealing. So often, we allow our emotions or our inherent inclinations to be the scale upon which we measure truth, and in doing so, we easily and willfully choose a lie over truth.

Jesus, speaking to religious leaders of His day, challenged them over the issue of lies and truth, saying,

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He is a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." John 8:44-47 NIV

This week let us ask the Spirit of God to guide us into all truth and to reveal the areas in which we are believing and acting upon lies.

Sharing the journey with you,