Whatever Is True

To begin this journey, we will have a go at the first governing principle regarding our thinking. Paul in Philippians 4:8 begins with “…whatever is true..” To understand this we must examine what truth is. Truth according to Britannica is defined as “the property of sentences, assertions, beliefs, thoughts, or propositions that are said, in ordinary discourse, to agree with the facts or to state what is the case“.

In this day and age, we have a very interesting concept of truth to the extent that everyone has “their truth”. I am not here to debate that but rather, challenge our thinking. First, I would like to bring to your attention that there is an absolute moral standard. That standard is set by the Creator of the universe. It is from this point we can distinguish right and wrong. Truth is a product of this standard set by the Creator of the universe. Because He is all in all, He has the right to determine what stands as truth and what is not, even though human beings can fuss about it. The Bible says that it is impossible for God to lie (cf. Hebrews 6:18). God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (cf. 1 John 1:5). Jesus, in John 17:17 says to the Father to sanctify His followers by the truth and goes on to say to the Father “your word is truth”. This is distinguished by Jesus again in John 8:44 saying the enemy of God- the devil- has a native language called lies.

To further examine and understand this, It is important to understand the intent of truth and lies. The Bible says the truth can be known and this leads to freedom. In other words, having a personalised knowledge of the truth sets you free. The truth liberates (the opposite of this is true). In the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11, we see the end result of telling lies – death – a separation.

What then is the intent of truth? To liberate. And a lie? To keep in bondage. Where do we see this? The Bible says the enemy comes but to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus comes to give life and to give it abundantly (cf. John 10:10).

Truth can be Absolute or relative.

In John 14:6, Jesus emphatically states that He is the truth. The concept of absolute truth states that God is truth and that truth emanates from Him- even His word, which is truth. Remember His word has been tried and tested as in a furnace seven times (cf. Psalms 12:6-7). God is the embodiment of truth revealed to us in the person of Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God. The sum of His word is truth (cf. Psalm 119:160). This implies that truth is unchanging and unwavering, just as the source of truth – God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (cf. Hebrews 13:8). The Lord whose faithfulness transcends human understanding (cf. 2 Timothy 2:13) says in Malachi 3:6 that He does not change. What an assurance from the King of Kings.

On the flip side, there is the concept of relative truth – truth that is derived. The problem with this is that its source isn’t really known and verified, like absolute truth. One implication of this is that it often misleads especially those who do not really care about verifying. It is wisdom to verify things and not just take those at face value, so you are not deceived. It is part of having boundaries. Be like the Berean Christians (cf. Acts 17:11). Do you like to verify things before committing/believing? Or better still, what have you just believed without verifying? I understand that this often happens because of the vessel conveying the information but remember the devil can appear as an angel of light (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14). This is a call for discernment. We really need it in our day and age because it saves from a lot of unnecessary headache! One way of discerning is watching consistently for actions – they speak louder than words. The key here is to look out for consistent actions (Matthew 7:15-20).

Let us drive it home. God is truth. He is the source, embodiment and epitome of truth. Absolute truth is from God’s point of view. Relative truth is derived. Some are valid while others are invalid – with the intent to deceive, misguide or to take advantage. The litmus test is to distinguish truth from lies or the “almost true” is knowing intent of the conveyance of truth. Is it to liberate or keep in bondage? And regarding absolute and relative truth, it is best to test by verifying their source.

Knowing this, we can now look at how truth can govern our thoughts. We are encouraged to think of what is true. This is taking an active position consistently to think of things that are true. Truth must govern our thoughts. For believers, the word must govern our thoughts which then affects every sense of our being. Joshua 1:8,9 says to meditate on the word consistently. This is a guaranteed way you can think of things that are true.

Let me break this down. This does not mean everything you think about must be true as obviously you will encounter lies. Rather, Paul is emphasising that your mind must be in a position to address things from a standpoint of truth. This, in the faculty of discernment, will expose lies. In other words, judge whatever you hear or encounter from the lens of truth. Positionally, we have the mind of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:16), but because we are being made perfect, we have a responsibility to live out this reality in Christ for us on this side of eternity. For God to be glorified, we, by the help of His Holy Spirit, must embody truth in our thinking, to enable us judge things in our minds from the standpoint of truth. This means living out on this side of eternity that which is finished in Christ. The word of God is our manual for embodying truth in our thinking. Practically, this entails studying the word, and applying it to our lives through honest reflections as we study the word.

In this journey of transformation, the most essential ingredients for guaranteed success is a willingness to learn (teachability) and humility (not thinking highly of ourselves than we ought, in alignment with scripture). There is guaranteed success because when you engage these ingredients as a responsible believer, together with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will enforce the victory Jesus has already won. What we are doing is living out the victory just like the Israelites had to live out by fighting to occupy what God had said to have given them (cf. Joshua 11:23)

Mindset shift

Choose to embody truth in your mind. Have a mind that embodies the truth of God, which is the highest standard and from which you can distinguish truth from error. Get back to the word of God. You can never go wrong with the word. You can hear thoughts and all, or even have dreams and visions but once you use the word to judge it, every “almost true” fact revealed, especially by familiar spirits will be exposed. The word is our guide to having a transformed mind while embodying truth. You and I have a responsibility but can never execute this without the help of the Holy Spirit. You engage Him by prayer, the study of the word, obedience and staying sensitive to Him.

Child of God, Man of God, Woman of God, servant of God, learn to embody truth by God’s standard through the study of the word, prayer, reflection and application. His grace is sufficiently available.

Let’s pray: Dear Holy Spirit, I thank you for opening me up to this. I renounce every agreement and lie I have lived by, believed and even shared. I want to embody truth by your standard in my thinking. Show me what to do, and how to do it. Give me a desire and love to study your Word, for prayer and the application thereof to shift my thinking to a place of truth by your word. Thank you for your help, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Shalom!