Do You Get Mad When Confronted With the Truth?Smakprov

Truth Hurts 

Imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up. The doctor says, ''You are a magnificent physical specimen. You have the body of an Olympian. You are to be congratulated.'' Later that day while climbing the stairs, your heart gives up. You find out later your arteries were badly clogged. You go back to the doctor and say, ''Why didn't you tell me?'' The doctor says, ''Well, I knew your body is in a worse shape but if I tell people stuff like that, they get kind of offended. It's kind of bad for business. They don't come back. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted.'' 

You'd be furious! You'd say to the doctor, ''When it comes to my body, I want the truth!''

But sad to say when it comes to spiritual matters, people do not want to hear the truth.

When we talk about “truth,” we are talking about specific truth. Not just truths like 2 + 2 = 4. We are talking about the message that Jesus called the truth. Jesus said in John 14:6 that “He is the way, the truth and the life” Addressing His Father in heaven, Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). 

The Bible gives us the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, and the truth about the world we live in. And it is this truth about God, about ourselves, and about the world we live in that hurts us and heals us.

There are people who when they hear the truth spoken about them, they react with anger. And since they don’t like the message, they decide to kill the messenger—maybe not literally in every case, but the fact remains that when people don’t like what they are being told, they direct their anger at the person who told them what they don’t want to hear. This was true of Festus and was also the experience of the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 18.

Being a prophet of God, he faithfully spoke the words of judgment that God wanted him to speak against the people of Judah who had gathered for worship at the temple in Jerusalem. But when the leaders of God’s people heard what their God had to say to them, the truth hurt. They resolved to silence the message by killing the messenger - but Jeremiah persisted.  

Let us remember that even though the truth often hurts and makes us angry, the truth also helps us in the long run. In fact, it is a spiritual necessity. Denying it, covering it up, justifying it, or sugar-coating it only makes the situation worse. Like a wound or an illness, our sin first of all has to be exposed. It has to be recognized for what it is before the healing takes place.

Instead of being dejected and saying “I’m sorry I got caught” or defensive and saying “It wasn’t my fault” or being angry and saying “Get off my back” or using unkind words and saying “Who are you to be judging me?”, it is better to accept the truth and be willing to change. 

Quote: The Bible may hurt you with the truth but it will never comfort you with a lie.

Prayer: Lord I pray that I will not be angry when confronted with the truth, but be willing to respond and make necessary corrections in my life. Amen