Start by accepting what’s real
Where do we find truth? What we believe shapes everything about ourselves, about our world, about our community. So how do we know we’re on the right path? Is there an absolute? Is everything relative? There are many people throughout history that have tried to answer these questions. Looking around at our world today, it sure doesn’t look like they’ve been successful! In my articles for this blog, I want to talk about truth relating to various issues in life we all face. Suffering. Heartache. Relationships. Parenting. Basically, life.
Until we understand truth and hold it dear in our hearts, we’ll feel lost. My goal is to find common ground in truth, not to nitpick or debate theologies, ideas, or arguments that have been going on for centuries. There’s no fruit in that. It’s been done before. As my parents would say to me,
“Been there, done that!” While avoiding the pitfalls of past arguments and denominations, I want to share hope by clinging to the truth. There’s such joy in knowing the truth, the truth of God’s Word and the truth of what He’s called us to do.
We really haven’t changed much, as humans. From the very beginning of time, we’ve been arguing with God, looking back instead of looking forward, and fighting among ourselves trying to figure out who God really is and what is actually true.
This was true back with the Israelites.
This was true during the Roman empire, when the apostle Paul was writing his letters to the churches.
It was true when Jesus walked the earth, having leaders of various religious groups attack him instead of hear him.
This isn’t new. But the arguments are getting pettier, more ridiculous, and more frequent.
We argue about everything. I saw an example on social media last week. We can look at the same picture of a car parked over the line in a parking lot. We can argue or make excuses, “So, it’s not that far out of the line. They didn’t do anything wrong. Why is it such a big deal? Give them grace! Maybe they couldn’t see the lines before they parked.” Or we can look at the actual truth: they parked in two parking spots…why are we discussing this? Let’s get back to calling out the truth and moving on with the day.
Do I make mistakes? Absolutely. Every single stinkin’ day. I might even be the person parked over the line! Is there grace for me? Overall, I say yes! There is grace for all of us, keeping in mind where grace and truth originate.
2 John 1: 2-3 says: “…Because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.”
Grace, mercy, peace, truth, love. Sure sounds good, right? Let’s find all of this together as we infuse truth in our lives.
