The Freedom of Truth
Last week’s lesson was from the beginning of Genesis and focused on the true freedom we have in relationship with God. His purpose is for us to know and trust Him and His intentions for us fully so that we can live out the abundant, obedient life He has designed us for. This week’s focus will be on speaking truth and how it is so much healthier and more liberating than lies.
You may be familiar with John 8:31, in which Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” He is referring not only to words of truth and facing reality, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to Himself. Jesus will tell the disciples very soon that He is “the way and the truth and the life”. So if we follow the style of a high school geometric proof... if the truth will set us free, and Jesus is the truth, then Jesus will set us free!
This week let’s look at some examples in Genesis of families who were just growing in their faith in the God who had chosen them, but who still made some bad choices that were passed on to several generations. Look at Genesis 12:10-20
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while
because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what
a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill
me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will
be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when
Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated
Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and
maidservants, and camels.
17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your
wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife.
Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with
his wife and everything he had.
If last week’s lesson was about learning to speak truth to ourselves in any given situation, this week’s focus is learning to speak truth to others. Not only does Abram get away with this deception in Egypt, the exact same situation occurs again in Genesis 20 with another king! And in Genesis 26, Abraham’s son Isaac pulls off the same stunt.. with the same king! Fool me once, shame on you…..am I right? Granted, in Genesis 20:12, Abram gives some justification to his deception, but his motivation for lying to Pharaoh and Abimelech was not noble. Nor was the motivation noble in Jacob and Rebekah’s scheme to deceive Isaac and get the firstborn’s blessing for Jacob (Genesis 27). Grandfather, father, son. All liars.
And Jacob came by his lying honestly, if you will. He inherited this unenviable trait from both sides of the family. In Genesis 29:14-30, Jacob’s uncle Laban (Rebekah’s brother) tricks Jacob into marrying the wrong daughter! Foiled again!
Here are a few things I see in these stories of the truthfully challenged:
1. They lied out of fear.
2. Their behavior had consequences on others.
3. God used them and blessed them in spite of their sin.
Choose one or more of these stories from Genesis (the impact is greater if you look at more than one, I think.) and answer the following questions:
•What was the one lying afraid of? (It may be explicitly stated or implied.)
• How were others affected by their lies?
• Did God use or bless them in spite of the lies? How?
Honesty, as a character trait, has always been very important to me. So much so that when our son was small we never endorsed the myths of Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. I wanted to be able to tell him when he was older that I had never lied to him. (My husband agreed to the plan because he wanted to be sure Charlie knew where the money and gifts came from!) I have also told Charlie many times that he can ask me any question and I will always, always, always give him a truthful answer. As he gets closer to his teen years, he has experimented more than once with stretching the truth and deceiving us. I have told him that lying is wrong and hurtful to the people you love most. When I have had my heart broken and my feelings hurt the deepest in life, it has been because someone lied to me. Charlie knows this and I pray that he will learn the value of honesty sooner rather than later.
Whether we face the consequences for our lies immediately, in the future, or we seem to get away with them, we are breaking God’s heart and compromising the relationships He designed for us to enjoy. When we are tempted to stretch the truth or deceive, the same things are true of us that we see in this Old Testament dysfunctional family. We lie out of fear. Our lies affect others. And God can still use us and bless us in spite of it. Look at what these verses say about speaking truth:
• Surely you desire truth in the inner parts… (Psalm 51:6)
• “These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD. (Zechariah 8:16-17)
• Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. (Ephesians 4:25)
• Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)
If you are tempted to lie this week, or even if you feel remorse after the fact, go to God right away and make things right in the inner parts, where only you and He can go. The place where truth can heal you and set you free. Ask God to reveal the answers to these questions:
• What am I afraid of that’s making me lie?
• Where can I see the impact of my lies? What do I need to do to make things right?
• Will you change me and use me, Lord?
Here’s a cheat for you: the answer to the last question is a resounding yes! 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. The other two questions you’ll have to have God reveal to you personally, and I pray that the process is enlightening and that it brings you closer to the One who loves you most.
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