Sunday

When the truth is a lie

Jefferson Airplane sang it:

"When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies. Don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love? Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love."

Sometimes the truth that is in your head comes at you like a freight train as a lie. "You have worth." "Jesus loves you." When those statements come at you as lies, all the joy in you dies. That happened to a friend I was with one night. My friend found those truths to be lies and it stripped my friend's joy. What was I to do? How could I convince someone that a lie was not the truth?

Have you ever believed a lie so much? I have. In that moment, the truth becomes a lie and I do not believe the truth, I believe the lie.

At that point, I need somebody to love me. In fact I better find somebody to love me. None but Jesus can or will. He is the truth and He will not put up with me believing the Liar for long. He overcomes, He overpowers. How? By His Word, by His Spirit, by the body of Christ through the fellowship of believers.

He works to restore our thinking from believing a lie to knowing the truth. He is the Somebody who loves us, even in the overcomed state of despair we sometimes find ourselves in. So I did no convincing. I just loved. And tonight I encourage us to thank God if we are not believing the truth to be a lie and to love those who are.