The Belt of Truth

The Belt of Truth

can seem old - fashioned

and out of place in our society.

After all, everybody lies - don't they?

?

Here is an example of 2024 U. S. culture.

This company is proud to promote....

lying.

This page contains a Bible devotion on truth.

It also encourages us to

teach children

to tell

the

Truth.

When I was young, my peers told me that crossing your fingers behind your back made any lie you told void of consequences.

Lying was rationalized, excused, and tolerated.

Yet, when I watched television,

I saw a world where

telling the truth was honored

and being a man of your word

was respected.

Therefore, I was presented with both sides of the moral argument.

Today,

I rarely see both sides of the moral argument presented.

~

Does anyone

wear

the Belt of Truth anymore?

Lying

doesn't really have consequences....

does it?

I do not watch a lot of television.

Yet recently I have seen many commercials that

present these messages:

 * White lies aren't real lies.

* It is cool to lie.

* There are few, if any, consequences to lying.

* Watching people lie is funny.

Commercials

that Encourage Lying and/or Deception:

* Mother wears her daughter's clothes and then lies about it. (She gets away with it and appears smug.)

* Parents run out of sugary cereal and lie about the nutritious cereal they give their child. (They get away with it and appear smug.)

* A parent lies about making a delicious treat from scratch that everyone loves. (This parent gets caught by the other parent. The consequences appear minimal and are downplayed.)

* Father allows child to do something and then says, "Let's don't tell your mother." (We are not shown what happens next.)

Television shows and movies also regularly

promote lying

by

showing

people lying and getting away with it,

and then

appearing happy about their choice.

What do you think about that?

For Parents:

Children are imitators.

Am I

teaching my child

to tell the truth?

Am I modeling - telling the truth

or

making excuses for lying?

A few years ago,

a friend of mine was struggling with lying.

At that point,

I really started to think in depth about the issue of lying.

Colossians 3:9 TLB

says,

Don’t  tell

lies to each other;

it was your old life

with all its wickedness

that did that sort of thing;

now it is dead and gone.

It began to dawn on me that our society is full of lying.

I began to notice all kinds of examples

of lying and deception

in the media and in daily life.

Withholding telling the truth

(in order to get away with something or avoid consequences)

is a form of deception.

~

God calls us to tell the truth.

In fact, Jesus said one of his names is Truth.

~

Demonstrating the need for Truth

Now that God has dramatically begun to show me the vast problems with deception in our society, I have begun to teach on the subject of telling the truth.

During my presentations, I usually assign a person to be Jesus. Then I demonstrate that each time we tell a lie, we actually turn our back on truth - and that means we turn our back on Jesus.

When we put that visual picture in our mind, it will help to keep us alert so that we do not take advantage of any subtle invitations to lie.

You are loved.
You are valuable.

Take note that many times we lie about ourself.

The following are lies:

"I am no good."

"I am worthless."

"I am unlovable."

"Nobody really cares about me."

"I'll never amount to anything."

All of those are lies.

-

When we say or think those things, we are lying.

____

The truth is:

God loves you

with an enormous, extravagant love.

God calls you valuable.

~

I encourage you to put on the belt of truth

and

resist repeating

the lies that the devil

and

demonic forces

want you

to believe.

Music for Feeling - God's Love.

Scripture for the Belt of Truth

God never meant for us to make lying insignificant.

He tells us to promote truth:

"Instead,

we will lovingly follow the truth

at all times -

speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly -

and so become more and more

in every way like Christ

who is the Head of his body, the church."

Ephesians 4:15-16 TLB

And God tells us the truth about disobedience:

"A false witness will not go unpunished,

And he who tells lies will not escape."

Proverbs 19:5

REFLECTION

Do my actions show that I promote honesty?

What positive difference would it make

if

everyone wore the Belt of Truth?

"Do not lie."

Leviticus 19:11

"Do not lie to one another."

Colossians 3:9

"The righteous hate what is false."

Proverbs 13:5

Some interesting thoughts to consider.

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