The Lies We Believe and the Truths We Reject

Have you ever considered all the things we take as truth, things that actually shape our lives by guiding our behaviors, habits, and attitudes? Some of our beliefs come from friends to whom we gave credibility for reasons we have long forgotten. Others were handed down to us by our parents, and some of what we take for granted is "just the way things are."

Have you ever heard someone speak lies aloud almost as a way of affirming or looking for affirmation what they want to believe was true? Have you ever done this yourself?

I once heard a well respected, overweight, out of shape businessman tell his young audience they will look the same as he does one day. Was he condemning the young men in the audience to a fat, flabby life in the years just ahead of them? Or, was he perhaps reassuring himself that his poor physical condition was an unavoidable occurrence for everyone who reached his age? Worse still, he may have been verbally reinforcing his own excuse for not exercising, eating right, or using self-control. After all, if we would only believe that everyone loses their physical fitness as they age, then we would be off the hook to get regular exercise and maintain a healthy diet. We can just eat, drink, and be flabby.

The truth of the matter is our metabolism does slow with age, our body does lose muscle mass and bone density over time, and our energy level does diminish over the passing years. However, none of these necessarily prevent everyone from doing things that maintain physical fitness. Age alone is not the factor that prevents us from walking or from enjoying a healthy diet of more water, fruits, and vegetables.

What about the woman who thinks she is too old to accomplish anything, to learn something new or to start a new career? When I hear people say such things, I remember times at the dinner table with my young children. When asked why they were not eating something new that they'd been given, they would almost always say, “I don’t like asparagus” (or whatever the food might be). Our honest response to them was, “You’ve never even had that before.” But still, they said, “I know but I don’t like it.” Ridiculous! How do you know unless you try? How do you know you cannot accomplish worthwhile projects (learning a musical instrument or a new language etc.) unless you earnestly try?

The truth is many people of age accomplish big things. Remember the television program “Little House on the Prairie?” The story was based on novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who did not publish her first novel until she was 65 years old.

What about Anna Mary Robertson Moses, who only began painting when she was 76 years old? Yes, she had her share of physical ailments, most notably arthritis, that kept her from her first love, embroidery. You may remember Anna by her more popular name “Grandma Moses.” Anna lived long enough to see the canvases she had sold for $3 fetch prices well above $10,000.

Religious authorities tell us that, if we are good, we go to heaven, and that bad people will meet the devil in hell, supposedly deep inside the earth. This, for some parents, is even a motivating concept to get their children to behave. But is it true? Some of the religious programs on Sunday mornings proclaim we can all become wealthy if we give our money to them; I believe they call it a “love gift.” Is any of this true? Jesus was asked by an exasperated Pilate, “What is truth?”

The moral of the story is that we all need to be careful not to believe or buy into all that is said or written. We need to check things out for ourselves.

If you have decided to stop taking things for granted, and instead search out the truth, be sure to check out the rest of what Tomorrow's World has to offer, including telecasts like "What Happens When You Die?" Another helpful resource, offered right here, is the 24-lesson Bible Study Course, which will help you to start really learning just how much sense the Bible really makes.