Truth Hurts

There is an old adage that says 'the truth hurts'. Just recently this was brought home to me in my life when I found out that something I had thought to be true about myself was, in fact, not true. Now some will say that finding out the truth is always a good thing. But if we're honest with ourselves, I think we will admit that sometimes we find out things we'd just as soon have never known. That is true in my case - finding out the truth hurt.

I learned a real lesson in this. I had an idea about myself of who I thought I really was - but it turned out I wasn't that person. With that reality comes disappointment. But truth is like that - it is not discriminating. What I mean by that is that truth really doesn't regard the results. It just shines the light on the darkness and what is there is there. We have to deal with what the truth uncovers, and many times that can hurt.

So we all have a choice to make - do we let the light of the truth uncover the darkness in our lives and then deal with it? Or do we do like Pontius Pilate?

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all. - John 18:37-38

Now what really jumps out at me from this passage is the following line:

"And when he had said this, he went out ..."

You see, Pilate asked the question and then just walked away - not waiting for the answer because he wasn't interested in the truth. He had 'the Truth' right in front of him, but he wasn't willing to address it. Many of us do the same thing - we are unwilling to let the truth in because we know it will hurt. It will not only show us things about ourselves that we don't like, but it will demand that we address those issues.

I mentioned earlier that truth shines the light into the darkness. One of the things you see in Scripture is that 'truth' and 'light' go hand in hand. One does not exist or work without the other.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” - John 3:20-21

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. - 1 John 1:6

Is it hard to let the truth and light into every area of our life - to uncover hidden sins and corruption we don't want to admit are really there? Of course it's hard. But look at the next verse.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7

This is an amazing verse of scripture. Do you see how it works? As we walk in light and truth, sin will naturally be uncovered in our life. As a result, we are able to confess that sin and be cleansed through His blood. So in effect, the very fact that sin is being brought into the light and disposed of is a direct consequence of walking in the light and truth - it is a direct consequence of being His child!

In fact, John drives home the point in the next verse:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. - 1 John 1:8

Wow. He's saying the ability to recognize and confess your sin is a test of being a child of God, while those who do not or cannot recognize their sin show evidence that they are not His.

Does the truth hurt sometimes? Sure it does. It hurts when we think we are one thing and the truth of God shows us that we are something else. But we need to understand the process - that He is uncovering things that need to be cleansed so that we can be purified and become a vessel of honor for Him.