[Discoveries] 05-08-07 Courage to tell the truth

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to 
his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. -- Ephesians 4:25*/

Why do we lie? Most of the time it is because we are afraid to tell the 
truth. Sometimes there are other reasons -- reasons that the gospel can 
cure, but I want to focus on this one.

When I think of lying, there is one instance in my life that comes 
immediately to mind. I felt trapped. Everyone in the room was looking at 
me. I was afraid to tell the truth. So I lied. It was cowardice, plain 
and simple. I was afraid of offending. I was afraid of confronting. I 
dived for cover underneath a lie. Afterwards I felt so very low -- I 
cannot describe to you the shame I felt. I suspect that lie messed up my 
life for the years and cost me thousands of dollars, maybe more.

So where does courage come from? Courage comes from knowing who we 
really are. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places. We are, in 
Him, indestructible. We are connected to the One who can manage all the 
consequences. If speaking the truth in love offends someone, then Jesus 
has the power to deal with the one offended. Of course, we are kind, 
gentle, tenderhearted and never unnecessarily abrasive. But we don't 
need to scurry over to shore up someone else's ego, simply because they 
don't want to hear the truth. Jesus can take care of their ego.

And once we know who we really are, we can tell the truth about 
ourselves. We don't need to invent stories to cover our mistakes and 
sins. None of us likes to sin or make mistakes, but, when we do, we 
acknowledge the anomaly and move on.

Being able to tell the truth is a wonderful freedom that flows from who 
we really are.

Be encouraged!
Dwight


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