Daily Devotional

My wide-eyed, startled young daughter stood poised with a black marker by her artwork on the wall. Guess how she answered, when I asked “who wrote with black marker on the wall?” “Not me!” was her lie!  Sound familiar? I remember thinking, “How do I teach her to love the truth?” That’s when I adopted the phrase, “The truth is your friend.”  I cannot even tell you how many times I have used that phrase with my kids! I made a deal with my kids. If they told the truth they would be rewarded, with a smaller consequence of their poor choice to disobey.  Then they heard my lecture on the benefits of telling the truth!  “The truth is your friend.”
I never taught my kids to lie…but they were so good at it! So how did they learn to lie?

Adam and Eve started it off with the first bite of the forbidden fruit!  We all have that seed of rebellion planted in our hearts. Now that I am a grandmother, I am still on a quest to teach the truth.  Once a week I gather my older grandkids together for a short Bible Study.  My heart is heavy when I think of all the false ideas, and lies swirling around us today in our culture.  Our kids and grandkids need our help sorting out what is true and what is false. Last week’s lesson was on TRUTH.  Here are a few things we discussed.

TRUTH is defined in the dictionary as “Real, actual, fact. No error.”

FALSE is defined as “Not genuine, intentionally untrue, adjusted or made so as to deceive or mislead.”

The ultimate definition of TRUTH is………Jesus Christ!  He is truth!

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

• Jesus is the “WAY” to eternal life and He directs us how to live this side of Heaven.
• Jesus is the “TRUTH”. He is the perfect reality. Absolute perfection. God almighty.
• Jesus is the truth and standard that gives us absolute clarity as to how to live our life. He has given us the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide in discerning what is true and what is false.  With His help, we cannot be deceived by the World’s lies.
• Jesus is the “LIFE”. He gave His life so that we can live forever with Him.
• Jesus also offers abundant life this side of Heaven. A life that is based on truth.

PARENTS:

• Play a True/False Game. Make a list of what is true and what is false.  List serious things and funny things. i.e.: “Moses built the Ark,” “Jesus loves you,” “Vegetables make you sick,” “Pastor Jim once had a tortoise named Lightning” (Yes, that is true!) Have the kids guess what is true and what is false. Make the game fun, but your goal is to teach about what is true and what is false. Discuss with them the definition of truth and false. Instruct them what to do, it they do not know what is true or false.
• Teach your kids why John 14:6 is so important for them to understand in today’s world.
• Consider using the phrase, “the truth is your friend,” often in your home. Telling the truth has many benefits, and ultimately Jesus is the truth!