Daily Devotional For Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Good morning. If you have ever been in court or watched some media with a court scene, the witness is always sworn in to tell the truth. After placing their hand on the Bible, they swear something like this: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Living by truth is what we as Christians are called to do and what is that truth? The truth as revealed in Scripture as given to us by The Truth, Jesus Christ.
King David in Psalm 119, wrote about how this was his life goal. Look at Psalm 119:30, 32, “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. . . .(32) I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (PAR). This sounds very similar to Jesus’ words in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (NASB). David says that God’s truth sets his heart free and so it does.
Sometimes, we make living as a Jesus-follower more complicated than it needs to be. One simple guideline is this: In order to please God, we need to make consistent choices that honor Him. That means we choose “the way of truth” and “run in the path” of His commands. Clearly, we sometimes lose focus and drift off the path. But our daily choices matter, and if we consistently choose to live in a way that honors Him, He will give us greater understanding of His laws and commands, as well as His purposes for our lives. That understanding, in turn, helps us make better choices.
My experience has been that the truth that makes us free is the truth we really do not want to hear. If the surveys are correct, many if not most people lie. In fact, here are some quick states on this: “In a survey, 75% of the participants admitted to lying between 0 to 2 times daily. During communication, 7% of it consisted of lying but only 10% were major lies. 90% of the time, the lies were trivial” (Source: Lying Stats). While many say they tell “little white lies that harm no one,” lying is taxing to our brains.
“A study at Temple University School of Medicine found that lying takes more brain energy than telling the truth. Participants were divided into two groups. Those in the first group were asked to shoot a toy gun and then lie and say they didn't do it. Those in the second group watched what happened and then told the truth about it. An MRI machine indicated that the liars had to use seven areas of the brain in their response. By comparison, those who told the truth only used four areas of the brain” (Source: Reuters, "Lying Makes Brain Work Harder," www.wired.com, 11-29-04).
When we believe a lie as a truth, it can have horrible, damaging, emotional, psychological and even spiritual effects on us. Take Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton’s discovery of the power of false information:
“In 1998, Michael Crichton, author of the best-seller Jurassic Park, wrote a book entitled State of Fear, a fictional look at a global disaster caused by eco-terrorists. To prepare for the writing of the book, Crichton researched global disasters. He was particularly intrigued with what happened in Chernobyl, one of the worst man-made disasters in history. He was surprised to find, though, that Chernobyl wasn't quite what it had been made out to be. In a speech Crichton gave in 2005, he shared a little about what he discovered. His research shows just how powerful false information can be:
Chernobyl was a tragic event, but nothing remotely close to the global catastrophe I imagined. About 50 people had died in Chernobyl, roughly the number of Americans that die every day in traffic accidents. I don't mean to be gruesome, but it was a setback for me. You can't write a novel about a global disaster in which only 50 people die. … What I had been led to believe about Chernobyl was not merely wrong—it was astonishingly wrong.
The initial reports in 1986 claimed 2,000 dead and an unknown number of future deaths and deformities occurring in a wide swath extending from Sweden to the Black Sea. As the years passed, the size of the disaster increased: by 2000, the BBC and New York Times estimated 15,000–30,000 dead, and so on. … Now, to report that 15,000–30,000 people have died, when the actual number is 56, represents a big error.
But, of course, you think, We're talking about radiation: what about long-term consequences? Unfortunately here the media reports are even less accurate. [There were] estimates as high as 3.5 million, or 500,000 deaths, when the actual number of delayed deaths is less than 4,000. That's the number of Americans who die of adverse drug reactions every six weeks. Again, a huge error.
But most troubling of all, according to the U.N. report in 2005, is that "the largest public health problem created by the accident" is the "damaging psychological impact [due] to a lack of accurate information…[manifesting] as negative self-assessments of health, belief in a shortened life expectancy, lack of initiative, and dependency on assistance from the state."
In other words, the greatest damage to the people of Chernobyl was caused by bad information. These people weren't blighted by radiation so much as by terrifying but false information. We ought to ponder, for a minute, exactly what that implies. We demand strict controls on radiation because it is such a health hazard. But Chernobyl suggests that false information can be a health hazard as damaging as radiation. I am not saying radiation is not a threat. I am not saying Chernobyl was not a genuinely serious event.
But thousands of Ukrainians who didn't die were made invalids out of fear. They were told to be afraid. They were told they were going to die when they weren't. They were told their children would be deformed when they weren't. They were told they couldn't have children when they could. They were authoritatively promised a future of cancer, deformities, pain, and decay. It's no wonder they responded as they did” (Source: Michael Crichton, in a speech entitled "Complexity Theory and Environmental Management" (the full speech, given at the Washington Center for Complexity and Public Policy on November 6, 2005, can be accessed at http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-complexity).”
Questions To Consider
- Would the Lord say you are a person who lives by the truth of Scripture? Why or why not?
- Are you always truthful or do you sometimes “stretch” the truth? Why? Do you ever flat out lie? Why? What does this say about your character?
- As we saw in the study above, it takes more brain energy to lie than to tell the truth? This may be why people have headaches, fatigue and have “fog” in their brains. So, telling the truth is not only better for you neurologically, it is relationally and spiritually. We know that as Christians, so why do you think some Christians still lie?
- As we saw in the story of Chernobyl, lying created generational damage. Each generation is impacted by the lie. If truth set us free, obviously lying enslaves us. How?
- What are some “whoppers” you have told and do you even feel guilty and convicted today to correct those lies with the truth? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 12:22, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, today I choose the way of faithfulness and truthfulness. Today, I choose to run in the path of Your commands. Broaden my understanding, Lord, so I might honor You in the decisions I make today and be able to move forward in the purposes You have for me. I acknowledge that in order to experience the truth that sets me free, I must be a person who lives and tells the truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly