Searching for truth?

Are you searching for truth? What is truth? Is truth relative, changing depending on the situation and circumstances? Truth is defined as: “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality; a fact or belief that is accepted as true.” So how do we find what is true? How do we learn or choose what to believe? How do we define reality with so many different perspectives and viewpoints? 

As a child, I was threatened if I thought outside the box of ‘truth’ I was given by those around me. Some threats came from my family members, all seemingly bigger and stronger than me. Often threats came with bodily harm and abuse. Some threats came from teachers with shame and punishments. Other threats came from my church with eternal damnation. I learned what I believed to be truth by fear. 

As I got older I still tended not to think for myself. I learned to gather a consensus from people I hung around or respected, especially those who had the most confidence in themselves, seemingly successful or who considered themselves infallible and experts in everything. I felt safer connecting and agreeing with these kind of people because I had learned through childhood messages to believe I could never be right or find the truth myself. I lost the capacity of discernment for myself. These messages were repeatedly confirmed into early adulthood by the type of people towards whom I tended to gravitate: people who considered themselves experts in everything, did not like anyone who disagreed with them, and were certain to speak their mind about everything and everybody. I felt the safest with people who firmly believed their own truth no matter what anyone else said. 

As my life fell apart I kept searching for more and more experts. I built a huge library of books and collected almost 20 medical specialists. Today there are a multitude of experts given the internet, cable TV channels, millions of websites, books, blogs, free PDF’s, videos, e-books and social media networks. I gathered these information sources like a squirrel gathering nuts. Often the pieces of truth disagreed which only caused confusion. Some advice worked and others made things worse. I got lost in a web of information I could not wade through. Ultimately my life got much worse than I imagined it could. For most of my life I traveled through a long dark tunnel from a very dark childhood with only glimpses of light along the way. Some of those glimpses of false lights turned into trains coming fast towards me for destruction. 

Then I found the truth of Jesus Christ, the Bible and the Holy Spirit. For the first time I was finding the truth and light for my path, healing for my heart, mind and body, and wisdom for decisions that daily amaze me. As I studied the bible with the help of the Holy Spirit given me through a relationship with Jesus Christ, I found I was learning the truth but not just for head knowledge. It started changing my life and changing me. I invite you on a journey to discover what this might mean for you and your life. I will be sharing my experiences here to help you on your way, including some resources explaining methods and simple practices that can help you become your own discerner of truth that might be offered by the multiple sources that come your way.

Pilate asked Jesus: ‘what is the truth?” when Jesus said he came to testify to the truth (John 18:37-38). Jesus had said that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth (John 16:3) and that he is the truth (John 14:6). In that same bible book, John said that truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). He wrote his book so that people would come to know and believe in Jesus and find a better life. The gospel of John is a wonderful book of the bible. It is written not only as a historical record but with spiritual interpretation. You can join a study of John’s gospel starting this week with Bible Study Fellowship, an international organization offering bible study groups around the world. Their link is

    https://www.bsfinternational.org/locate-a-class1  

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