Sometimes we think of truth and we think that it should be easy to find, or easy to figure out but in reality we sometimes have to get through a tangled web of lies to get to the truth. There is the surface truth and then there is the deeper or full truth that is even harder to get to and harder to come to understand. The longer I live the more I feel like truth is anything but obvious.
Lately in the news we have a man who wants to pretend to be a woman. We also have a white woman pretending to be a black woman and it seems like everyone wants to throw in their opinions about if he is a she and if she is black. It almost seems like the media wants to help justify and legitimize the lies. Then we are all supposed to take sides. It is all just so silly and to some so confusing when the truth should be clear as day.
I often think about the scripture in John 8:32 when I think about truth. I feel like the truth in this passage even gets misunderstood. People always seem to focus on "the truth shall make you free" part as if they are saying that telling, or confessing the truth will set you free. I believe that is true in many ways but that isn't what the scripture says, It says, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Truth is power. Only as we come to know and act on the truth we will be free. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well in this world we live in, it isn't always so easy. I can definitely see how confusion is a real form of bondage.
You just have to watch a few commercials to get your daily lies in. Everyone selling something seems to twist the truth for their benefit. People peddling things are constantly sending you messages, that even if they are true, they certainly aren't the full truth or both sides of the truth. This is why I knew I could never go into advertising and why I didn't want to sell anything. I could never live with myself. I do try to always be honest and if I have lied about something guilt usually doesn't let me continue on in my way for long.
The scriptures even share times when it is okay to lie or not tell the whole truth, like when you are about to be killed by evil men who want to steal your wife. Or there is the deceiving that goes on during war to save lives.
The other thought that has been on my mind is whether it is better to lie than to hurt someones feelings. The dreaded question for a man is when an overweight woman asks him, "Do I look fat in this?" Are they just expected to lie? There aren't really any good responses to that question. We have all been faced with similar situations like this where we have to decide what is the right thing to say.
Then I think about the Savior and how people were always trying to catch him in his words so they would be able to condemn him to death and yet he very masterfully said exactly what he needed to say to both share truth and not be pinned down by them. I can't think of a time that the Savior ever compromised the truth to make someone feel better in a lie. I also can never think of a time that he ever wanted to hurt or shame a lost soul. He just wanted to love people and give them the truth that would make them free.
I think that is what we all want to do in situations like this and yet we often believe that we have to choose between truth and people's feelings. It just makes me feel like I need to be better about studying the life of Christ and then I would probably handle situations like the above much better.
A couple of scriptures stand out to me on truth, One is John 8:44 talking about the father of lies and the other is 2 Timothy 3:7, "Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of God." The more I think about it the more I believe that we are foolish to believe that we can come to know truth in any real depth without the help of God. God doesn't just know the surface truth. He knows the whole and complete truth. He knows our backgrounds, our motives, our hopes, fears and desires. I am so grateful that not only is he all knowing but he also loves us and that is a pretty amazing combination.
Well that is the honest truth according to me, which doesn't necessarily mean much. :)
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