Can there be freedom without truth? Can there be hope in the land when truth is sacrificed for a lie, for expedient gain, for political advantage? When truth is reduced to mere opinion, so that everyone has their own truth, can anyone find their way to certainty or is everything reduced to a sad expediency, duplicitous to the end?
Scripture warns us. We must love the truth, for God does not lie and neither should his children.
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6
So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… Ephesians 4:14-15
Buy the truth, and do not sell it… Proverbs 23:23a
Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Isaiah 59:14
But you must be truthful with each other, and in court you must give fair decisions that lead to peace.Zechariah 8:16
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
Embracing the truth puts one out of step with the world, for the god of this world is the father of lies, a liar from the beginning. We are called to be in the world, but not of it. We cannot embrace deceit and remain untainted. It is said that the first lie we tell is always to ourselves.
So my brothers and sisters, where do you stand? How far are you willing to go? Can you be honest with yourself? You stand at the crossroads, with everything you think and say and do, while he who alone looks into our hearts awaits our choices. Plot your course and choose; then choose again, and again, and again.
