honesty

You’ve encountered them. You might possibly even work with one. And there is the regrettable chance you live with one. “Who?” you ask. The person who is ALWAYS right in their own eyes. The self-righteous ones. The perfect among mankind.

“Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.” John McCarthy

Of course we, the realistic people of earth, know there is no such thing as a perfect person, but don’t you dare tell them they aren’t perfect. They will argue that fact. If you have encountered such a monster then you know how frustrating it can be to do life with them, or to have any kind of interaction with them at all.

If finding fault generated wealth then they would be among the richest people on earth. “Well, if you hadn’t of …” so quickly and easily comes out of their mouths. What shocks me is how deceived they are. It’s like they are allergic to truth. They defend the smallest of actions.

Job, from the Bible, had this issue I believe:

“We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,
    but God won’t give me a fair trial.
When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face.
    I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’
Have you ever heard anything to beat this?
    Does nothing faze this man Job? Job 34:5-7 (MSG)

The burning question on my mind is this, “Will they dare try to defend themselves when they stand before Almighty God and give an account as to how they lived their life?” Will they try to blame God? Of course God is perfect, as his son Jesus is, and has done nothing wrong. I’ve been talking to a friend lately about this, and I have told them, “It’s okay to be wrong!” In fact, it’s admirable, and respectful when one can sincerely say, “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

The Bible actually says, “The truth will set you free.” (John 8:31) Of course knowing Truth, or Jesus will set you free. Free from your sins and free from eternal damnation. But knowing, owning up to, and admitting the truth is living free. If you find yourself always defending your actions then stop it! Try being wrong once in a while. You might like how it feels.

The title of this post comes from the famous line delivered by Jack Nicholson in the movie, “A Few Good Men”. He was right. There is truth out there we don’t want to know. We can’t handle. For instance, we are just learning, in main stream media, about cults, or groups that enslave women, children for the sexual pleasure of others. That truth is so heavy it is difficult to comprehend.

Not all truth is so burdensome. Like when two individuals have a disagreement. A “He said this, he said that” scenario. Others who hear one side of the argument have only heard half of the truth if any. A wise person will seek out the other person and listen to them, hear their version of the truth before making judgement. Honestly though, seldom do people seek out the whole truth. They listen to the side of the person they like the most, as if truth had something to do with popularity.

Truth is so important our judicial system will ask each witness, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Why? Because judges know that proper judgements can be made when the truth is known.

Here is something else that is true that needs to be said; individuals, who are getting killed by the police, as some have alleged, “without cause”, should comply with the officer’s orders. In other words, simply put, when the police arrive on a scene they don’t know who is right, or who is the threat. They try to calm everyone down, make sure the scene is safe, so they can investigate, and then decide what action to take. If those getting “unjustly” killed by the police would listen and follow their orders they would live. If they are as innocent as their mother says they are the police will find that out during their investigation.

So what does God say about truth? Jesus said that knowing the truth will set you free. (John 8:32) Yes, He was specifically talking about knowing him will set you free from the bondage of religion, but knowing truth is freedom.

I used to beg my children to always tell me the truth. I did my best to instill the idea in them that the truth can always be dealt with. Right now in my personal life there is some hard truth to face, but admitting it is there has helped me determine the best approach to handling the situation.

Sad truth:

Some individuals, after meeting God, and hearing how much He loves them still turn their back and reject him. They believe the lies of the devil that they know more than God what is best for their life.

Even sadder truth:

When those who reject God die they will be judged and receive eternal death of their own freewill.

Good truth:

For those who accepted God will have an advocate, named Jesus Christ who will say to his heavenly father, “Their debt, sin has been paid by me.” Then that individual will be ushered into heaven for eternity. That’s the truth, nothing but the truth so says God.