What Is Truth?
Many philosophers and scientists have tried over the years to define what it is. Like Aristotle:
“To say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true. To say of what is not that it is, or of what is that it is not, is false.”
I am going to give it a try too.
Truth is not what you and I make it, because we don’t have the power to create it. After all, every man is a liar.
It’s not about what we feel, and sometimes it’s not about the experiences we have, as real as they may seem.
He is not something we have to hunt down because He is strange and mysterious, and we cannot know Him.
The Big Guy up there said, ‘And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’
Instead, He revealed Himself to us hanging naked on a tree, waiting for us to look at Him and see. Because He wants to be known.
What is truth? Truth is a person. He calls Himself ‘I AM’.
I Know You Are Probably Wondering
What does this have to do with being happy?
Have you ever felt like something is missing in your life? A longing, desire, even an itch for something, but just can’t figure out what it is, and you are even unsure what it is?
Well, I found the answer. The empty hole in your heart can finally be filled.
You need Truth. Yes, not the theory but the person. You need to know Him because He has something to offer you that the world is not willing to give to you. Freedom.
Not the kind of freedom let’s be what you want, when you want. The kind that lets you become the person you were meant to become.
Let me show you what He offers:
- Freedom from deception.
- Freedom from the burden of guilt and shame.
- Freedom from loneliness
1. Freedom From The Burden Of Guilt and Shame
There are 3 people you can never cheat: God, Satan, and yourself. And I am not sure about the last one.
Yes, you can convince yourself of a lie, and it’s probably because the guilt and shame that you feel knowing the truth about who you are can be heavy sometimes.
Your own heart condemns and tells you about how undeserving you are. Guilt lurks somewhere in the heart, waiting to devour you, and all you want to do is hide and cover your nakedness in fig leaves.
When you hear the voice in the garden calling out your name, all you want to do is hide, because somewhere in your mind, you are convinced that He will destroy you.
Rather, instead, He is asking, “ Who told you you were naked? Is it me? Who condemned you to the darkness of guilt and shame?”
Mary knew that feeling all too well. She was caught in the act and dragged to the streets alone and naked to The Man she thought would condemn her?
Guess what happened?
He looked into her eyes with compassion and love and asked, “Woman, where are your accusers? Does no man condemn you?… Neither do I condemn you. Go. You are free from your guilt and shame. I have taken it. Sin no more because I give you the power to overcome.”
That’s when she fell in love for the first time in her life.
Yes, even prostitutes can find love. It’s no different for you.
2. Freedom From Loneliness
There lived a man who was despised by his people due to his corrupt ways and the profession he had chosen.
One day, a great teacher was passing by in his city. This Teacher was known for the wonderful miracle He performed, and this man desired to meet Him.
Because of the large crowd, this man could not meet him. “I don’t even deserve to meet Him,” he thought, “But just to see His face, and I will be satisfied.”
Since he was a short king, the only way he could get a glimpse was to climb on top of the biggest tree around. So up he went.
As this Great Teacher walked by the tree, He stopped, looked up, and then called him by his name. “Zacchaeus came down. Today I am going to eat at your house.”
“Is he talking to me?” he wondered, “Nah, he can’t be talking to me.”
Almost as if he read his mind, he said, “Yes, I’m talking to you, Zacchaeus. Come down, it’s almost supper time.”
I have never seen a short person move so fast. For the first time in his life, he gets to host people in his house. He prepared the greatest feast of all.
For the first time in his life, Zacchaeus didn’t feel alone and shunned. As much as his people shunned him, this stranger embraced him and became his friend.
That simple story teaches you that freedom from loneliness was not just for you but for others as well. Share it. Open the door of your heart to other Zacchaeuses who desire to host people in their homes too.
3. Freedom From Self-taught Lies
Lies, lies, sweet little lies.
Lies can only exist in the realm of the imagination, but if you tell them to yourself enough times, you will bring them to reality.
The work of the lie is simple. To steal your peace of mind, freedom, and destroy you. The worst news of it all, sometimes it raises its ugly head from inside us sometimes.
“I am dumb, ugly, and untalented. Maybe that’s why I suck,” that’s how it sounds sometimes from your head, and you end up becoming your own worst enemy.
How does it end if the war that you are in is just you against yourself?
Then Jesus comes along the way and interrupts that cycle of negative thoughts. He doesn’t just give us positive thinking, but reality itself.
He says, “You are forgiven, rise and walk again. You are loved. You are mine.”
He looks at you with His loving eyes, and He calls you saint, righteous, beloved. Even after you were just rolling in the mud. You are His, and He embraces you and takes away the lies and speaks truth in your life. And when He speaks, it becomes.
Jesus doesn’t just make us righteous by encouraging positive thinking, but also with the same word and power that he used to create the world. The same word that the storms obey.
Truth Is Not Something You Find
Rather, it’s someone that you experience daily.
Someone who wants to be experienced, and is always open to being experienced.
When you experience Him, your life changes, and happiness ensues.
Do you want to be really happy? Maybe it’s time to encounter this Truth, beyond the lies and misbeliefs that shape so much of our reality.
