FreedomSample

The Truth About Half-Truths

In front of me is a purple water bottle. Specifically, it's light purple, but still purple. Imagine someone says that bottle is green. I’d clearly know they are lying or have a visual impairment. Now if that person said the bottle is mauve, I would concede and agree that it could be considered mauve. They take it an inch further and say, actually it looks more like light lilac. I would again concede and consider that one could call it lilac. Next, they say, actually that bottle appears to be white. I would allow myself to agree that in the right lighting, it could appear white, accepting that someone could reasonably call it white. Now, I’ve not only allowed them to lie to me, but also trick me into allowing someone else to believe a lie. If a third person called it white, I wouldn’t bother correcting them.

This is a silly example, but accurately portrays how Satan tricks believers into accepting falsehoods. He starts off with a premise and slowly inches us closer to the lie. He presents to us half-truths, hoping to push us further and further from scriptural truth. Before we put away falsehoods and speak truth, we must acknowledge that half-truths are insidious, if not more so than blatant lies.

Recently, I felt compelled to confront a believer about a scriptural falsehood she not only was accepting but also promoting. She did not intend to believe the lie. It would grieve her to know she was accepting distortions. But over time, she allowed herself to concede little by little to false teaching from other believers. Make no mistake, Satan is working on every one of us with half-truths. It’s his mission to use those half-truths to mislead us into doing his dirty work–convincing other believers of falsehoods we have come to accept.

Sisters, do not concede to half-truths. We’re not only lying to ourselves, we’re corrupting the body of believers. Ephesians 6 says to stand firm in the Lord with the armor of God. That’s the way to fight off that wily enemy. Immerse yourselves in Scripture to the point of being firmly equipped with the truth, so the devil’s half-truths have no power to deceive us.

Father, guard my mind from scriptural distortions. Expose the falsehoods I have accepted and train me to recognize truth.

For Further Reading: Ephesians 4:14-15; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 3:9-10