Almost True I // The Danger with Your Truth
What is Truth?
- Jesus said, “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. (John 18:37-38, NIV)
What We Need to Know
- Truth is absolute, constant, and true for everyone, everywhere, all the time.
- Many people confuse truth with perspective.
- This makes truth relative to your experiences.
The “Your Truth” Trap
- There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. (Proverbs 14:12, NLT)
Two Truths about TRUTH
- Just because you believe something, that doesn’t make it true.
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (Jeremiah 17:9, NLT)
The danger of “your truth”
- No absolutes that apply to all people
- Morality becomes subjective because right and wrong are relative
- Perspective determines truth
- I am the source of truth
- If it’s true for me, then you cannot question “my truth”
- Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4, NLT)
2. Truth isn’t just something we believe; truth is someone we follow.
- Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV)
Application Point: If Jesus’ truth is different from what you believe, then die to “your truth” and live according to the truth.
- They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. (Romans 1:25, NLT)
Let’s Pray: How are you living in contradiction to God’s truth where you need conviction and help to change?
Reflection Questions
- When have you experienced your feelings deceiving you and leading you down the wrong path because of what you believed as true?
- What is required in learning to live according to truth?
- What is the biggest threat to your faith when you look for teachers that tell you what you want to hear as opposed to what God says is true?
- How does learning that truth isn’t just about a precept or principle, but a person, change how you view truth?
- Reflect upon a time when you traded truth for a lie. What caused it? What was the result?