HOW TO BECOME A MORE TRUTHFUL PERSON
It’s not easy to always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yet if we want to be like Jesus that is our goal. Satan is a deceiver, a liar from the beginning and the ultimate source of all lies (John 8:44). Jesus is truth (John 14:6; 18:37). There isn’t any middle ground. Gray might as well be black because it isn’t white, and God demands 100% purity from us all the time. When the truth will hurt someone, what are we to do? Be sensitive to God’s Spirit within, convicting or excusing us. Ask God to show you your deep motive behind what you choose to do in that situation.
So how can we become more truthful?
First, practice creative silence. Truth-telling begins with silence. When we speak less, we will speak more truthfully. The more a person talks the more likely they are to exaggerate, slander, mislead or stretch the truth. The Bible highly recommends talking less but listening more (Proverbs 10:19; 11:12; 13:3; 21:23). Creative silence means listening more and better, speaking less and praying while you are listening. Pray to be able to hear what is said, for most of us don’t listen very well today. Pray for the right words to say when you do speak. Pray only God’s truth will come out of your mouth. “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3). The more we speak, the more chance there is for us to say something we shouldn’t say. If we want to be more truthful, the first step is to speak less and listen more.
Second, practice personal accountability. Often, we aren’t totally honest in what we say because we fear we will be rejected if we speak the truth. We think that if others really know us, they will dislike us. Therefore we put on a mask of deception and pretend to be what we feel others want and will approve. Jesus calls this hypocrisy, and He hates it!
The way to be free from this is to have a person or persons to whom you are committed to being truthful. Be yourself. Let them know the real you. Ask them to ask you the hard questions about yourself. Encourage them to point out anything about your words or life that is not totally honest. And you help them the same way. Good friends help other friends find the courage to tell the truth.
Third, commit to becoming a “Person of Truth.” We are to be known as people of the truth, but sometimes we are people of the lie. It takes commitment to the truth and a willingness to pay the price for total honesty to be a person of truth. This starts with being truthful about ourselves, for that is often where its hardest to be truthful. We lie to others about what we are feeling and how we are doing, but worst of all we lie to ourselves. We don’t want to face the truth about our failings, our weaknesses or our sins. So we justify them, we minimize them, we blame others for them or we ignore them. Jesus says the truth will set us free (John 8:32), and it will. But it may bring pain, it may be a hurtful process. So we avoid the truth and live a lie. When we are willing to be hurt by the truth about ourselves, then and only then will be able to be set free.
Jesus came to earth “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). To be like Him we need to experience and live in grace, but we need to experience and live in truth as well. The truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth. (June 13, 2022 Doylestown, PA)
Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
Have you been having victory over dishonest or deceptive speech? Where do you still struggle the most? What can you do to have victory?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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