One of my favorite motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar, once said, “If you are unwilling to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” The question is this; what is it we are determined to learn? It should be the truth, but the truth is getting harder and harder to find in today’s world and some people can’t handle it when they find it.
The enemy is a liar and the father of lies and they are proclaimed so loud and often that people have accepted them as true. The only time I have been unfriended on Face Book was over one such lie that my friend posted that has been repeated for the last 50 years. It was something his favorite college professor taught him. I told him I was part of the group that started that lie and that was one of the reasons I left the group and I could prove it wasn’t true. He could not believe his professor lied, so he unfriended me instead. He couldn’t handle the truth. The enemy is also great at cloaking his biggest lies in just a little truth to make them seem right.
A few years ago, I stopped sharing other people’s posts on social media. Even when the source is a person I trust I can’t tell if they have been fooled unless I do a lot of research. I am very honest about my own experiences as a Christian in this blog, but I want you to read the scripture references for yourself to verify my application of them.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus also said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-33) Jesus isn’t only the source of all truth, He is truth. The Holy Spirit will always guide you to the truth God has for you.
There is one warning. We must not let what is true for us be a stumbling block for other weaker believers. Paul could eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols because he knew those idols have no power, but he refrained because it was a problem for some other weaker believers. (1 Corinthians chapter 8) One of my favorite books as a teenage Christian was A Man Called Peter about Peter Marshall. As chaplain of the U.S. Senate, he attended many state dinners at the White House. Often a person next to him would notice that he had not touched his wine. He told them, “I could drink that glass of wine and it wouldn’t bother me, but I have counselled so many people whose lives have been ruined by alcoholism that I don’t want to encourage someone with that problem to think it is OK for them because they saw me drink it.”
Good luck on your treasure hunt to learn truth.