The Truth Will Set You Free

There are a lot of ideas about truth.  Some people think it does not exist; some think it cannot be known.  Some see it as personal and encourage speaking “your truth” as if the word “truth” were the same as the words “experience” or “perspective.”  This is not a new phenomenon; when Jesus told Pilate that He had come into the world “to bear witness to the truth” and that “everyone who is of the truth listens to [His] voice,” Pilate dismissed His statements with the philosophical question, “What is truth?” and went on to hand Jesus over for crucifixion.

But truth does exist, and it is powerful.  In John 14:6, Jesus calls Himself “the truth.”  In John 8:31b-32, He said, “If you abide in My word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  These are powerful statements that say much about the identity of Jesus, the purpose and destiny of human beings, and the relationship with Him that God offers.  The latter also tells us that one of the qualities of truth is its ability to free us – lies can relieve the pain of our chains for a little while, but truth can set us free.

There is nothing more painful, freeing, cleansing, elevating, or grounding than the truth.  We love the truth and hate it, need it and run from it.  Truth can be hard to hear, hard to say, and hard to accept.   The freedom it offers is not necessarily a freedom from pain.   Have you ever had one of those moments in which you realized something was true and could not deny it, and it was tough, and it hurt, but it also gave you relief because you knew it was real?  The pain of truth is better than the numbness or temporary satisfaction we get from self-deception.

It is true that we all have our own experiences, and these can be very powerful.  We sometimes need to understand the reality of one another’s experiences.  These experiences can include feelings and thoughts that are very real, but acknowledging the reality of our feelings and thoughts is not the same as saying that they are true, or that the messages they give us are true.  Our feelings and thoughts do not always tell us the truth.  And, while validating our feelings as real can give us a certain amount of freedom, believing all the messages that can come with those feelings only binds us again—that, is if the messages are not true.  God tells us that truth sets us free.  As painful as it seems, it always feels better.  It’s the lies that bind us up.  When we are in truth, we realize God is not trying to beat us up.  He is trying to help us.

Cinthia discussed her own experiences of this.  There were things she believed about herself that seemed so real, but they were not true.  She did not want to face the truth about some things in her life, and she even lied out of fear.  Admitting what was true was painful, but, when God brought her face-to-face with the things she had not wanted to admit or acknowledge, she found it set her free.  Many of these truths were about who she was and how He made her.  She advises, “Do not be afraid and push back when God is telling you the truth.”  God never lies.  He is for His people, not against us.  He is a good, gracious, patient, kind God Who never fails and is always available.  When He brings us into contact with hard truth, it is because He loves us.  He made us to live in the truth.  When we walk in the truth, we are in clarity and reality—actual reality.  We see more clearly.  We make better decisions.  Finding out who we each are and contending with all the proclivities we each have is important.  The truth is always our best friend; it is not created by God to harm us.  We think it will kill us, but it makes us free. 

Truth is not painless.  God’s love for us does not mean life will be easy.  Think of Jesus on the cross; He died naked, bloody, beaten, scorned.  He did that so we would not have to face the judgment that was ours to face.  God knows what it is like to feel afraid to the point of sweating blood, to be completely misunderstood and dismissed, to do the right thing and have nobody care.  He is closer to us than a friend or family member.  He goes with us as we face truth, and we have His strength on which to lean when truth is too big for us.

Truth needs no other supports -- it can stand alone, does not have to be expressed or experienced to be real, and does not need help in any way -- but it is at its best and most powerful when infused with love.  There is an old saying that “truth without love destroys, love without truth deceives, but truth with love develops.”  Jesus showed us the truth, giving His life for us and demonstrating His love for us.  Truth can be sharp, and it is not meant to be a weapon we use for our own aggrandizement or vengeance.  Sometimes we need to ask ourselves why we are verbalizing particular truths at particular times.  We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), not to throw out mean, thoughtless, or spiteful comments in the name of “just being honest.”  We should speak words that set people free and give them courage, not words that use pieces of truth to put others underneath us.  We must consistently ask God if we are supposed to speak truth to particular people at particular times rather than simply speaking every piece of truth that comes into our heads.

If the truth makes us free, why are we afraid of it?  Fear is normal for us, and it makes us want to protect ourselves.  But avoiding the truth keeps us from being true to ourselves.  The worst thing we can do to ourselves is to lie to ourselves.  The truth wants to be found out.  It likes to be seen so it can set us free.  We can either work with the truth or fight against it. 

Part of the truth is making friends with your own body.  Our bodies work so hard for us, but we often harm them.  God made your body for you.  Cinthia learned this when God finally said to her, “Who are you to talk back to me about how I made you?”  You are a created being.  He did not consult you about how He made you.  He likes how He made you, and He loves interacting with you.  You can be truthful with Him about not liking what you are experiencing, but you are ultimately going to have to accept how He made you.  As He told Cinthia, He tells us, “I made you for ME.  I knew you before you were formed.  I like how I made you.”  We belong to Him because He made us, and He made each of us on purpose because He wanted to do so.  God knows you down to the very, very depths of your soul.  He knows every neuron in your body.  He is happy that He made you.  He wants to be with you forever.  He wants you to care about yourself as much as He cares about you.  He really loves His people.  You are beautifully and wonderfully made.  This is seeing from God’s perspective.  We do not know how long He will give us on the earth, but when Truth sets us free, we become able to help others in the ways we were meant to do while we are here.