Truth Pursuer: Fight the Liesنموونە

Scene 1: You’re sitting in the back row of math class with Jake and Zoe. Jake forgot to do his homework, so he’s trying to get Zoe to let him copy. “Come on, Zoe,” he says, “It’s OK. It’s not going to hurt anyone!”

The Lie
Did you see the lie? It’s pretty sneaky, but you’ll hear it a lot if you listen for it. It’s the idea that your choices are wrong only if they hurt someone. Now it is bad to deliberately hurt people, but that’s not how to measure what’s right and wrong. You need to look to a higher standard.

The Truth
God’s Word tells you what’s right and wrong. Beyond that God has written His laws on your heart (Romans 2:15). When you do the wrong thing, your conscience and the Holy Spirit convict you. Thousands of years ago the Lord laid out the Ten Commandments to emphasize that murder, lying, stealing and cheating are wrong, and that worshiping Him and honoring Mom and Dad are right (Exodus 20:1-17). The Bible contains absolute truth. Strive to live according to its standard and you’ll avoid a lot of pitfalls (Psalm 119:1-3).

Know It, Do It
The world has a lot of crazy ways to determine what’s right and what’s wrong. Some say a choice is OK as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. Some say what’s right for one person may not be right for another. Every time you hear one of these ways of measuring right and wrong, remember that there’s only one real way to tell—go to God’s Word and see what the He says.