I had never heard of a Greek Stoic philosopher named
Epictetus, but I saw a quote from him that rings true to me. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” Mark Twain made a similar observation when he wrote, ” It is much easier to convince a person of a lie than it is to convince them that they have been lied to.”
I have been on Facebook for about fourteen years now. I currently have just over 300 friends from many different backgrounds, world views, religious beliefs and political affiliations. Despite all of our differences, I have only been unfriended once for telling the absolute truth. He posted about a political event that never happened. I commented that I know it didn’t happen from personal experience as an insider at the time and offered to present him with information that proved it never happened. His favorite college professor told him about it so he preferred to believe him than to accept that I could be telling the truth.
Satan is a liar and the father of lies. (see John 8:44) His favorite lies are scripture passages taken out of context and twisted. We must be very careful when we are learning that we don’t accept lies, because once we believe a lie there will be no room for the truth. You must run everything you hear or read past the Holy Spirit and God’s word in context, including my blog. God is the only sure source of truth. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit makes it easy to spot the lies,if we are paying attention. One of the reasons my blog has been so successful is that I prayerfully follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as I write it and that same Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer reading it recognizes His truth. Jesus is the way the truth and the life.