Love & Embrace Truth
- JC
- Jan 20
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 14
Lesson 4 of 12 in the Man of God series
You and your best friend are walking down the street when a man offers to sell you a Rolex watch for $500. If it’s a true Rolex, it’s probably worth somewhere between $5,000 and $15,000. However, if it’s a fake, it may not be worth much at all. Your best friend believes it’s real, but you’re the one with the money. Do you give the man your $500? Why or why not?
No matter how much you do or don’t believe the man, the watch is either a real Rolex or it’s not. Just because your friend believes doesn’t mean it’s true.
We all make decisions based on what we believe. That’s why a Man of God learns to search for, believe in, love and embrace the TRUTH.
Part 1: Love Truth
What’s the difference between believing something and knowing something is true? Think about how our beliefs affect how we live and the decisions that we make. The beliefs of a vegan affect what he eats. The beliefs of an environmentalist affect how he treats the earth. In the same way, an atheist and a Christian probably differ in how they live because they differ in what they believe.
People have different beliefs about a lot of different things. Some of those things may not matter much at all, but some beliefs could prove deadly. Doctors used to claim that smoking tobacco products was good for you. They have since proven that it contributes to damage of the lungs and other health concerns. Doctors also used to believe that removing “unhealthy” blood through a process called bloodletting was a good way to treat sick patients. This process led to many failed treatments even to the point of death. Now, it is widely understood that there is no such benefit from the procedure, and patients are more likely to need additional blood through transfusion. In both of these examples, tobacco and bloodletting, the doctors’ false beliefs had deadly consequences.
A man of God recognizes that the story of Jesus isn’t just a belief; it’s the truth. In fact, it’s the only truth that can lead to eternal life.
“Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” -1 John 5:12
As you can imagine, that’s not a popular belief. People prefer to say, “You believe what you want, and live your own life. I’ll believe what I want and live my life.” Some even add, “in the end, we’re all going to the same place.” However, the Bible says…
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” -John 14:6
Jesus is saying that following Him is the only way sinners can be made clean enough to live forever with God. He is not a belief; He is the truth. Not just that, but we understand that the Bible is filled with more than the opinions of men. It is the true word of God.
“But you should continue following the teachings you learned. You know they are true, because you trust those who taught you. Since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right. Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17
In other words, the Bible is God’s word. It is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because it was written by the Truth. People who choose not to believe the truth are instead choosing to believe in lies that lead to death. Why do people refuse to believe the true word of God? What will happen to everyone who rejects God’s truth?
“They will die, because they refused to love the truth. (If they loved the truth, they would be saved.) For this reason, God sends them something powerful that leads them away from the truth so they will believe a lie. So, all those will be judged guilty who did not believe the truth, but enjoyed doing evil.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
People refuse to believe the truth for many different reasons. However, the Bible says one huge reason is because we all enjoy (or have enjoyed) doing evil. However, as we grow closer to God, our love for truth will outgrow our enjoyment of evil.
Part 2: Embrace Truth
The Oxford Dictionary defines “embrace” this way:
Embrace
hold (someone) closely in one's arms, especially as a sign of affection.
accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically.
When we truly realize that we have God’s truth available to us at all times, we should want to embrace it. What does embracing God’s truth mean to you?
Look how one of the writers of Psalms embraced God’s truth.
“How I love your teachings! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, because they are mine forever. I am wiser than all my teachers, because I think about your rules. I have more understanding than the elders, because I follow your orders. I have avoided every evil way so I could obey your word. I haven’t walked away from your laws, because you yourself are my teacher. Your promises are sweet to me, sweeter than honey in my mouth! Your orders give me understanding, so I hate lying ways.” Psalm 119:97-104
Men of God embrace the truth of God’s word by craving truth, testing for truth, sharing God’s truth with others, and defending truth.
Craving Truth. It’s one thing to know God’s word is true. It is something completely different to crave God’s truth.
As newborn babies want milk, you should want the pure and simple teaching. By it you can mature in your salvation, because you have already examined and seen how good the Lord is. -1 Peter 2:2-3
Think about that. Babies don’t just want milk. They crave it. They seek it out. They cry out for it. And when they find it, they are happy for a while but soon want more. We too should want more and more of God’s truth like we can hardly get enough of it.
Lord, tell me your ways. Show me how to live. Guide me in your truth, and teach me, my God, my Savior. I trust you all day long. -Psalm 25:4-5
Your teachings are worth more to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. Psalm 119:72
Testing for Truth. Paul and Silas were faithful missionaries who told a lot of people about Jesus. One group of people were the Bereans.
“The Bereans were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said and studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true.”-Acts 17:11
Sometimes we’ll hear ideas and statements that sound like they might be true, but we’re not 100% sure. Like the Bereans, we need to compare those ideas to the truth of God’s word, because it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
The more we learn the truth of God’s word, the easier it will be to spot the mistakes and lies other people are calling truth.
“Then we will no longer be babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us. They make plans and try any kind of trick to fool people into following the wrong path.” -Ephesians 4:14
Sharing Truth. The very next verse explains that a mature man of God will speak truth with others, but he will be sure to do it in a loving way.
Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head.” -Ephesians 4:15
Why do we want to share the truth of Jesus with others?
We’ve all learned important news before that we wanted to tell someone else. Well, there’s nothing more important than the truth of Jesus Christ. So, we should want to share that truth with everyone… especially those we love. We are told to share the good news (gospel) of Jesus with the whole world.
“Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished.” -Mark 16:15-16
This is every Christian’s mission… to share the truth of God’s word. If we love people (like we should), we should want them to be saved from their sins.
“But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, ‘How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.’ ”-Romans 10:14-15
It is a beautiful thing to love others enough to share with them the truth about Jesus. However, the longer we wait, the more they’ll be tempted to believe the lies others are saying.
“Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times, and tell people what they need to do. Tell them when they are wrong. Encourage them with great patience and careful teaching, because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories.” -2 Timothy 4:2-4
We know that God made the world and all the people in it, but many who know nothing about God say they know how the world should work and what people are supposed to do. Whether they know it or not, they are lying to themselves, to us, and to others. As knowers and lovers of the truth, we are called to speak out against lies.
Defending Truth. More than ever, we live in a world where a lot of popular people are saying things that are untrue. The things God has called good, they are calling them bad. The things that God says are bad, they are calling them good. God warned us these days would come.
“How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad and bad things good, who think darkness is light and light is darkness, who think sour is sweet and sweet is sour. How terrible it will be for people who think they are wise and believe they are clever.” -Isaiah 5:20-21
God says things will be terrible in the end for people who think they’re smarter than Him. Until then, God has called his people to have courage and defend what we know is true.
“I want to encourage you to fight hard for the faith that was given the holy people of God once and for all time.” -Jude 1:3
Wait. I thought Christians are supposed to love… not fight. Well, we fight to defend truth because we love God, and we love people. We want to bring others to God. So, we use words that demonstrate the strength of God’s truth.
“We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
We fight by living Godly lives and standing up for truth.
“By holding on to the trustworthy word just as we teach it, overseers can help people by using true teaching, and they can show those who are against the true teaching that they are wrong.” -Titus 1:9
Nobody likes to hear they are wrong, and our goal isn’t to make enemies or cause people to feel stupid. So, we carefully craft conversations that will do more good than harm.
“Respect Christ as the holy Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have, but answer in a gentle way and with respect.” -1 Peter 3:15
Our mission to share and defend God’s truth may sound difficult, but God’s word has power.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."-Romans 1:16
So, the best thing Christians can do to tap into God’s power as we prepare to share or defend it is to ask for His guidance as we study to learn and understand His word.
“Make every effort to give yourself to God as the kind of person he will approve. Be a worker who is not ashamed and who uses the true teaching in the right way.” -2 Timothy 2:15
Conclusion
A man who loves and embraces God’s truth will crave to know it better so that he can share it with others and defend it from lies and false information.
