TRUTH is a huge subject. How can it be found? What are the criteria? What hurdles and obstacles might keep one from finding it? What aids are at our disposal that can help us to discover and test it?
Love the Truth? What does that mean?
Throughout my childhood, my father made a strong impression on me regarding truth. For him, truth was the most important thing and somehow, I believe, I inherited his love for it.
When we love something, we are willing to invest in it and sometimes even make sacrifices for it. Could the truth be so important that one might sacrifice his or her life for it?
To what degree are truth and love connected? Is there such a thing as love without truth or truth without love? A fascinating question. Truth is factual and tightly bound to reality, while love is a relational quality. Perhaps we could say that when love is based on truth, its quality is genuine (?). Honesty, faithfulness and integrity are all connected to truth.
Definition
Wikipedia: Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or standard. Truth is also sometimes defined in modern contexts as an idea of "truth to self", or authenticity.
Truth is the process of recognizing original correlations.
“The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” So the saying goes. How has the flood of fake news in the media influenced our relationship to truth? Where have all the truth lovers gone? Can they survive in this post-modern world?
Truth affects many areas of life.
What areas are affected? For example: my relationship to myself, the environment, my daily reality, my and our past, present and future as human beings. Does truth have anything to do with the meaning of life?
Let’s begin with the “simplest” of truths, the truth about myself.
The Truth About Me
When I look in the mirror, I can clearly see what I look like at that moment. Well, there are often good reasons to make changes, right? Our reflection in the mirror is, so to speak, the naked truth. While it is true that we can influence our looks from the inside, the signs of age are nearly impossible to hide. However, this is the strategy many people use to try to solve the problem.
The solution is make-up. Who of us wants to be the person who can get along without any make-up and still feel okay? That’s a huge challenge for women, because we men have a tendency to reward the use of make-up.
From the Outside to the Inside
Who am I? In my counseling sessions, I have met some people who don’t know themselves and would rather not get to know themselves better. In our society, we have learned to be afraid of ourselves, or of the truth about ourselves. Although there are many reasons to love ourselves, we run away and try to make do with lesser substitutes.
Every person is of inestimable value. When we observe nature, we can see that we as humans are the crown of creation. No other creature is as intelligent and autonomous as we are. We hold the whole earth in our hands and could even destroy it at will! Unfortunately we have made quite a bit of progress in that direction.
We can self-destruct. We have a free will and the ability to choose between good and evil.
Do you know yourself? I do tests with young people who would like to learn more about themselves. Among the tests we do are some that explore the individual’s temperament and the characteristics that define their temperament, their emotional intelligence, their strength of will and ability to manage conflicts, their social needs and their level of sensitivity.
Young people love these tests, because they help them see deeper inside themselves. Recently a young man commented on how surprised he was over his own complexity and the complexity of life. He had discovered more truth about himself, and loved it.
Who am I? What am I supposed to do as a human being in the context of the universe? What is life all about? What’s the point?
The Truth About Others
The more a person knows about him- or herself, the easier he or she can understand the truth about others. It’s amazing how complex we are! Because of our diversity and complexity, we need never get bored in our quest to understand each other.
As a matter of fact, I have noticed that everywhere where God has left His mark of His designership on His creation, there is an unfathomable depth of information and beauty to be explored. Consider biology, physics, astronomy, chemistry or mathematics. The more we know about these things, the more we know that we don’t know anything!! Dimensions in the macro and microcosms suddenly open up before our eyes. More on that later.
If we want to know the truth about a person, let’s say our partner, we have to get to know his or her family background. This is where he or she was “programmed”. What important determining factors molded his or her character in childhood? How involved were parents and grandparents? One might be tempted to ask, “Whose fault was it?”
We are a product of our past. In order to understand the present and, to a certain degree, accurately foretell the future, information from the past is of vital importance.
The Truth About Our Past
Suddenly our family story becomes interesting and valuable. How did my mother grow up? How was my father disciplined as a boy? Why are my grandparents so reclusive and solitary?
The earth has a story too. Do we know it? What can we learn from it?
People who are willing to take an honest look at their pasts will have an interesting experience
The Truth Makes You Free
Many people who recognize and deal with the inadequacies of their early training and find out the causes for them, discover that their deficits are subsequently easier to correct.
Coming to Terms with the Past
In most cases, people need help to do this. Counselors or the parents themselves can help. Photos and other documents can help reveal traces of the past. Too many people carry heavy burdens from their past, never thinking it might be possible to get rid of them. How sad!
Carrying these burdens consumes a lot of strength and energy.
For this reason, it would be well worth the effort to work them out.
When we ask serious questions about the reasons for our past experiences, we eventually arrive at deep, existential questions, like the origin, meaning and purpose of our existence. Is evolution true? Or is creation more probable?
There are said to be an infinite number of stars and constellations. Imagine what would happen if they were all just coincidently and haphazardly flying through space. Think of all the accidents! It would be reminiscent of a destruction derby. Our little earth would be in grave danger. Thank God we are in His hands.
Creation or Evolution?
When a food or pharmaceutical industry produces a study on healthy nutrition, many people question the objectivity of the results presented. This is also the case when dealing with the question of truth. It is always a good idea to get both sides of the story. I have personally benefited greatly from presentations by a university professor from South Africa, who used to teach evolution. After going through some dramatic, life-changing experiences, he discovered some cracks in his theory. As a result, he carefully investigated creationism and subsequently changed his mind and quit his job. LINK
The question of creation or evolution naturally raises another ancient question: Does God exist or not? Many people are afraid of the possible consequences of answering the question in the affirmative. They would rather go with the general flow. After all, so many people couldn’t be wrong! The majority rules. That’s what democracy is all about. But is the majority always right?
The Truth About Our Present
Once I have seriously dealt with the question of my origin, it’s much easier to work on the present and the future, because by dealing with the past, I come closer to discovering the meaning of life, and thereby find meaning for my own life.
What is life really all about?
The discovery of causality in life can really wake us up out of the coma in which we find ourselves. There are reasons for everything that happens. Living within the boundaries of natural laws tends to make life simpler, while breaking them, for example the law of gravity, results automatically in negative consequences. If I am not careful and drop a glass or my cell phone, it will break. It is also not a good idea to jump out off the Empire State Building.
What do you think life is all about? If I gave LOVE as a possible answer, would you agree?
Causality
Asking “WHY?” can take us deeper and deeper into reality – let’s call it the truth – of our lives****. Why is my health not the best? Why is my partner so depressed? Why does my son have difficulties learning in school?
These are important questions and deserve our attention. The answers could help us to master the present. The following blogs give answers, or suggestions of answers, to some such questions:
Emotional Intelligence – Beneficial for children, marriage and on the job?
Conditional and Unconditional Love – How do they influence my love tank?
Toxic Thoughts and Feelings – How do they influence our health?
How do I deal with Difficult People?
The Five Love Languages – How do they influence my quality of life?
The Four Temperaments - Cholerics, Phlegmatics, Sanguines, Melancholies
The Influece of Social Media on our children.
Are you an HSP too?
Life is multifaceted. “WHY?” is a good question that can be asked in almost any situation. In doing so, we gain interesting new insights about reality, the truth. When couples travel this path together, their relationship can be strengthened and enriched. Discussing important issues, trying to understand each other’s point of view and drawing conclusions together are all activities that help two individuals become good team players.
The Truth About Our Future
Once we have seriously worked through the past and the present, it won’t be too difficult to think about the future. When we look at what is going on behind the scenes in politics and finance, we don’t need much of an imagination to know we must expect uncomfortable developments in the future.
The Bible - the Basis of Truth
Many people have lost their confidence in the Bible for a variety of reasons; their image of God has been shipwrecked, or they feel there is no room for absolute truth in our post-modern world, or they are sick and tired of endless theological discussions, or they just don’t like the lifestyle portrayed therein. However, with a little patience and perseverance, seemingly insurmountable contradictions suddenly disappear. When truth is highly valued, even LOVED, the Bible turns out to be a treasure chest of practical wisdom for the wise. It can provide us with the guidelines we need to successfully navigate the waters of life.
When we LOVE THE TRUTH, even when it may be unpopular or cause personal pain, then we will want to study the Bible and the prophecies contained therein. When we see how its predictions were always fulfilled, or “came” TRUE, we can be confident that its claims about the future are just as true and will also be fulfilled.
Many Christian believers who are somewhat acquainted with the Bible realize the events portrayed there indicate a progression of disasters, culminating in the second coming of Jesus.
Interesting, isn’t it? The Bible speaks of a first and second resurrection (Revelation 20). At the first one, when Jesus comes back, all those will be raised who loved the truth and chose to follow Him in this life. He will take them to heaven where they will spend the next 1000 years.
After this millennium, according to the Bible, there will be another resurrection. This second resurrection will be for all those who did NOT LOVE the truth, but were contented with half-truths or lies, for which reason Jesus could not save them. Check it out in 2 Thessalonians 2:10. At that time they will be confronted with their decisions in the final judgment. Because they had rejected the truth about Jesus’ offer to pay the penalty for their sins, they will have to carry the consequences themselves.
Endtime Statements in the Bible
Various passages in the Bible describe the characteristics of the time of the end and give us a view of what is to come. If you have a Bible, I would recommend you look up the following texts:
Isaiah 25:9 Matthew 24:27 John 14:1-3 Acts 1:9-11 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Revelation 1:7
»I believe in God like a blind man believes in the sun; not because he sees it, but because he feels it.« Phil Bosmans
Once you have discovered the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God in the Bible, you will never want to stop drinking from His fountain of love and being a blessing to others. It’s just amazing!!
The Truth About Our Destiny
If the Bible is true, we can choose a bright future and look forward to: a glorious life in heaven!!
On the other hand, those who chose door number two will suffer a moment of sad comprehension before forfeiting their lives forever. Life is a gift from God; it can only be lived as such. Because God respects our freedom of choice, He takes our decisions seriously and accepts them. If we are not interested in His way of life and don’t want to live with Him, He pulls away. God’s love is based on freedom. He would never force anyone to live with Him in heaven!!
Suggestion
Dear Reader, If the subject of eternity is of interest to you, I would recommend a closer look at what the Bible has to say about it. When you find information on the subject, test it by the Bible. If your findings can be confirmed in God’s Word, you can be sure it’s the truth. If you will pray as you go through this process, you will be amazed how God will guide you to the truth. That is His greatest wish for you, because HE IS THE TRUTH!!! (John 14:6)
Many people are unaware that Jesus promised to come again. He said He would come and take all His children with Him. I want to be there too! And you?
