Day Eleven // Reading: 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Devotional

Lie: Everyone has their own truth.

TRUTH: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

- 2 Timothy 4:3-4, NLT

Every year, Oxford Dictionaries picks a word of the year that embodies the spirit of the past 365 days. In 2016, they chose the word “post-truth.” It’s an adjective that describes when “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’” Since 2016, sociologists have described the times we live in as a post-truth era.

We live in a time where many people reject Truth. Instead, everyone has their “own truth” that they can define based on their emotions or personal beliefs. People get “canceled” or even bullied if they aren’t 100% accepting of someone else's truth.

The Apostle Paul warned about this in 2 Timothy 3-4. He prophesied, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

Perhaps you’ve felt the effects of this in your school lessons or conversations with your peers. This kind of cultural environment can be confusing and make it hard to know what’s real. Here’s the thing: when we tolerate the idea that everyone has their own truth, we’re putting truth in the hands of humans rather than an all-knowing, all-powerful God. This leads to chaos and confusion.

Thankfully, as daughters of God, we have the Spirit of Truth living inside us to help us know what’s true and what’s a lie. As Christians, we believe that the only thing that can define truth is the Word of God, the Bible.

At the end of the day, people want to live by their own truth because they want to validate the way they live, even when it’s selfish or harmful to themselves and others. When we try to live our own truth rather than THE Truth, we’re only living a lie. God offers us access to the truth that will set us free and root us in the reality of His love.

PRAYER: God, thank you for your constant truth in a world where it seems like everything is always shifting and changing. Please make me so hungry for your truth that it makes every lie and false way of living unappetizing. I repent for the times when I’ve defined truth on my own terms so that I could be more comfortable. Please give me the courage to stand for truth in love, even when it’s difficult.
Question: In what areas of my life do I need to stand up for God’s truth?