Handle The Truth

Jack Nicholson got it all wrong in “A Few Good Men.” You CAN handle the truth. Don’t believe lies, negative self-talk, harsh words from others, or feelings of being unloved. Negativity come at us from every angle. Ten people tell us that we look nice, and the next person says we look horrible, and we believe that. We can get as many emails telling us we did a great job, but that 11th will make us feel like a failure. We lie to ourselves and are our worst critics, constantly picking at every misstep and telling ourselves we are not good enough.

Lies come straight out of the mouth of the devil. The Bible tells us “…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.” (John 8:44). The devil wants to convince us to believe him, not God. He wants to rob us of the joy God has promised each of us. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8). The devil lied to Adam and Eve, and he lies to you. Please don’t fall for it.

What if we told ourselves the truth? This Christmas season, remind yourself of the reason Jesus was born. He came to live the same life, suffering the same hurts, rejections, and troubles. He understands us, and he loves us so much that he died so that we can live an abundant life now and in eternity. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”(John 3: 16-17) This is the truth. We are loved. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”(John 15:13)

The next time Satan lies to you about who you are, remember God calls you friend. He sacrificed everything for you because he loves you. You are his child, and nothing can take that away from you. “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, either the present nor the future,nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:31-39)

Believe God. Believe the truth. “…. and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”