Heart Matters
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
Oh if only everyone walked in the truth! One can only dream. Imagine if it were so just how easy would it be to communicate and agree with each other! If only we could: recognize the truth; own the truth; believe the truth; acknowledge the truth; and speak out of-the truth. If only that were true. Unfortunately many of us have allowed the truth to become contaminated and tainted for us. The enemy knows all it takes is a tiny piece of deception to pollute the truth. The enemy knows that without truth revealed the meaningful areas of our lives can begin to feel like a lie. The enemy knows if he can get just one party to embrace a lie, (especially an internal one created by ourselves specifically for the purposes to allow us to feel right, justified, and innocent), he can kill off a part of what was meant to be a thriving healthy relationship. Yeah I believe its the lie that’s a result of the “sin of omission”, that which we choose ignore and refuse to validate, that does us in the most when it comes to our relationships. It’s that type of deception that will block the door of real restoration every single time. Any attempt to have a serious conversation will veer off course, get stumped and sidetracked, and end in frustration without accomplishing any ground towards restoration. For the party clinging to the lie and refusing to walk in the truth, anything that so even hints at blowing off the lid and exposing it entirely, will be immediately and viciously rejected. Aha! That’s what Jack Nicholson meant when he said in the movie “A Few Good Men” -“you can’t handle the truth!” Can you?
What’s really sad is believers are also prone to this weakness. We deny truth because of our pride, our desire to win, our selfishness, our self-centeredness, and/or our inability to own our stuff because of the pain we’d have to realize as a result. Here’s the thing-when we fail to walk in the truth of whatever situation we may find ourselves in, we can cause others pain. For whatever it is we’re denying it also means we’re denying every accompanying detail that goes along with it, such as the grace, the love, and forgiveness we’ve received from other person. When we deny truth we damage others. When we deny truth we diminish our witness for Christ. When we deny truth we delay healing.
So I say to you oh woman of God-are you walking in THE TRUTH? Since you know Him and are His are you walking in your truth? Are you walking in truth regarding your life, your challenges, and your circumstances? Are you owning and acknowledging your wrongs, your failures, your part in the ongoing struggle/conflict? Are you recognizing and exposing the areas in which you’ve been deceived? Are you ready to reveal the places you’ve allowed your pride to take residency and flourish? Are you willing to admit the deception you’ve created and embraced to protect yourself from hurting? Are you ready to confess all the times you’ve sided with the father of lies instead of the God of truth? No need to put your hand on and swear by the Bible-He has written His law on your hearts. If you desire to truly follow Him, you must walk in truth!
Convicting isn’t it? I remember some of those “moments of truth” in my life. Let me tell you, almost every time I was confronted with my truth’s-my first response was to deny and defend. I became defiant and defensive. I responded with authority and arrogance. (I told y’all I love my alliteration-so indulge meh!) I wasn’t until I was willing to humble myself and take what I was being told to the Lord that I was able to clearly see “my truth”. Okay so this is very important because we all have haters out there. So in regards to what others speak to me (both positive and negative) this is the plumb line Scripture that I depend on: “Let God be true but every man a liar..” Romans 3:4 I can (you can) take whatever someone tells me (you) about myself (yourself), whether it’s criticism or flattery, to the LORD to find out whether they spoke the truth or not. I try to do this every single time regardless of who the person is that’s speaking to me. People are flawed but God is faithful. We can trust whatever He has to say to us!
Once my cousin told me “Kir, you’re selfish, the whole family says so.” What?!!! I was stunned, hurt, surprised, really just flabbergasted! But all those feelings quickly turned to anger-no fire-as my mind ferociously retrieved all the memories of the times I selflessly sacrificed for them. I became defensive in an instant and the words which came out of my mouth was the result of the war I had declared in my heart. I was still a young Christian woman at the time and I was still living seeing myself through rose colored glasses, seeing myself only the way I wanted to be seen. But this time the Holy Spirit compelled me to take it before the Lord Jesus. I began by telling Him what happened (as if He didn’t already know) and then I went on to explain all the reasons what my cousin said was completely and totally wrong. I think because the Lord knew that the reason I was talking to Him about it was because I was open to receiving what He had to say about it, He began speaking to my heart. He showed me that since I had to be a sacrificial person (especially to my younger sisters) at a very early age-because of that very reason, the fact that I had done so much already, I had become overly protective of my new life with my new young immediate family. I wanted to be left alone to solely pour out in just this one area. So, everything and anything I felt would compete with that I would filter it through how it would interfere with that goal. As I look back I see it more as I was being self-centered than selfish. But come on, can one be self-centered without some selfishness going on in there? I don’t think so. God graciously explained to me how I let this sinfulness creep into and permeate my life. I was tired and I just wanted to be left alone to serve and enjoy my family. I can almost laugh at that now! My flesh was winning! The point is although I quickly denied my cousin’s accusation, truth be told, I had changed and I had become selfish. But I wasn’t walking in this present truth at the time I began shutting them down every time they asked anything of me. No, I was walking in who I had been to them instead of who I was being to them now. Who I was and who I was being was two different things. They saw me as one way and I chose to see myself another way. As a whole both viewpoints were true of me, but currently (during that conversation with my cousin) only one applied.
It wasn’t until I was willing to accept the truth from Christ that I could handle the truth. I repented to the Lord and asked my extended family to forgive me. I was grateful my cousin called me out and confronted me. When I took it before the Lord and He spoke to me about it, I was able to own it. As a result it lead to healing-mine’s and theirs. It lead to spiritual maturity and growth (I’m more willing to serve whomever, whenever, and however the Lord calls me to). There continues to be those moments when I have to go to the Lord to find out the truth about myself. Do I have the right motives? Am I being loving and forgiving? Am I trying to preserve myself at the cost of someone else? Have I embraced a lie? Am I lying to myself? See there’s always something to pray about! The good news is God welcomes it. He wants us to run to Him so we can walk in truth. When we walk in truth, we’re able to run the race He’s set before us with endurance! On your mark, get set, go!
WALK IN TRUTH!
“LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart;…He who does these things shall never be moved.” Psalm 15:1-5
“Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.” Psalm 86:11
“But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2nd Corinthians 4:2
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5-7
“I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.” 2nd John 1:4
“For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:3-4
“And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.” 1st Kings 3:6
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
Truth sets you free. It sets you free from self, free from sin and free to serve (I know I’m doing it again lol). Truth sets others free: free to feel loved, forgiven, healed, and restored. In order to walk in the truth we have to WALK WITH THE TRUTH. HIS NAME IS JESUS!
“Jesus said to him, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
HEART TO HEART: ABIDE IN THE TRUTH, SO YOU CAN WALK IN TRUTH!
Hey Kir! I think as a Christian woman this is one of the hardest things to overcome in my life. Let me say my life because I don’t know if this even matters to others. Living outside of the truth of myself was like being egotistical and thinking I had it all together so no one could tell me anything. Here is how I allowed the devil to deceive me… for years I struggled financially and I worked hard to get out of many pits (that I had dug for myself mind you). Eventually I righted my ship through out some trash and my life started to improve. Then God sent me a loving, kind, God fearing man that joined me and pushed me and together we became a force to be reckoned with when it came to how we felt and the blessings started flowing. I allowed this to almost make me… this is hard to admit… conceited!! I felt like among my family (sisters and brothers) that i was the one who had made it. I was the one that had it all together and there was nothing that anyone could tell me!! It was awful! I was awful! It took God pointing out how ugly I was, through the man of God that I loved so much, my husband. For me to realize and to walk in the truth. The truth that I was being awful because basically, I thought I was all that!! I had to forgive myself ask God to forgive me and pray that my family forgave me. My truth is still sometimes hard to walk in because I look at the decisions they make for their lives and I want to lash out at them and that is not of God. I try everyday to be more like God and to share Gods word with them to help lead them to a better future but God is yet working on me!
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Hey Bridget! That heart though! I can so relate to what you shared. I guess it is the wickedness of the human heart which causes us to respond with arrogance and pride to The Lord’s favor and blessings. I say this because I have many examples of the same in my own life AND I’m remembering the warning the Lord put on Moses’s heart to give to the children of Israel to prepare them for the blessings of entering into the promise land. Check out Deut.4:9 (chapters 4-6)
Moses told them “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” The great news is that the LORD knows our hearts and when we stray HE’s willing to do what it takes to redirect us! Walking in our truth is like going to the Lord so HE can loose us from that which we’ve allowed to bind us in some way. When we walk in truth, The Truth-The Lord JESUS-WILL set us free!
Thank you for sharing my sister!
I love this verse of scripture! It is so true. In vs. 31 of that chapter, the Lord Jesus is talking to those Jewish people who believed on him from vs. 30. I believe he is talking to anyone who believes on him, that if you continue in his word, then are you his disciple indeed (vs. 31). Then he shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. I think the problem is found here, people believe, but they do not continue in His word. The reason why they don’t continue in his word is because of offense (of the word – see sower and seed parable vs. 17, Mark 4. Also see cross ref. In Matthew and Luke). Also, the cares if this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful (Mark 4:18). These reason will cause people who believe (initially), not to continue in His word, therefore not to become His disciple indeed (vs. 31). They will not be able to know the truth to be set free.
Hey Tanisha!
Yes girl thanks for pointing this out and the additional scriptures. Your comment reminds me of what my pastor said Sunday before last. He said “you become a child of God through belief.” In the parable of the sower and seed not all truly seemed to believe. But even once we believe we still may not choose to be disciples. My pastor said “You become a child of God through belief. But how do you become a disciple? God starts putting His hand on things in our lives that we have to give up. It requires yielding and giving up things that God says have to go. When we do so, He always (graciously) replaces it with something better.” He went on to say (and this is profound to me) “In fact you won’t even begin to understand your purpose in life until you become a disciple. (Oh my goodness!) Meaning is discovered when you become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Wow, wow, wow!!!
When God starts requiring us to give up something, the struggle can become real. Unfortunately many decide by their response that He’s asking too much. But you know HE never gives up on us- Always working on our sanctification and growth. I LOVE HIM!
Thanks for commenting my sister! Love you!