"Life's Healing Choices" in American Sign LanguageSample

If You Want to Change, You Have to Face the Truth
By Rick Warren

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him …” (Ephesians 4:21a NLT, second edition)

The secret to personal change is not willpower. The secret is to know and face the truth. You must know and face the truth about yourself and your nature.

Nothing will change in your life until you know and face the truth about your weaknesses, relationships, successes and failures, and past and future.

Nothing changes until you know and face the truth. And that truth is found in Jesus Christ.

Why is it necessary to learn the truth before anything can change in your life? Here’s why: Behind every self-defeating habit in your life is a lie you believe. If you get in debt, it's because you believed some lies like “I can spend and get away with it” or “I can always pay it back.” You might have overestimated how much you would make, or you believed the lie that you needed a much bigger house.

But do you? Are you sure it's the truth? Can you prove it's the truth? Are you absolutely certain that what you believe you've said about your finances is true? What about your relationships? What about the things you say to yourself about yourself? Is the way you think about your past or about some event the truth, or is the truth what God says about it?

The Bible teaches that personal change starts with truth. It is the truth that sets you free. The apostle Paul says, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him …” (Ephesians 4:21a NLT, second edition). Who is the truth? Jesus, and because Jesus is the truth, he will always tell you the truth. His word is the truth. The Bible is his Word, and that means the Bible is truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

What you hear on television or read in books isn't always going to help you because it's not always the truth. Have you learned that? But what God tells you is always going to be the truth. God's Word shows you how to get back to the life you were created to live, and then it shows you how to stay on God’s path.

This is why it is so important for you to have a daily quiet time in the Word of God. Nothing will change until you get the truth into your heart. You will never change as long as you build your life on a foundation of lies, misconceptions, deceptions, or half-truths. But when you face the truth and respond to the truth, you will begin to see change in your life.

Talk It Over

Have you ever taken the time to think and pray about your weaknesses? Why is this an important thing to do?

Why can you trust that the Bible is God’s Word?

What do you need to change about your schedule and priorities so that you can spend time every day reading God’s Word?