I was talking with a friend this morning and I mentioned that I had received beatings, as a child and teen, for telling the truth. That's not supposed to be the reality for a child. It's no wonder I became a liar due to the fact I was beaten for telling the truth.
When a child is raised by liars, he will learn to lie. Both my father and my step-mother would require me to lie to the other about their actions and words. Of course, if I lied to them about mine, I got a beating. Teaching a child to lie, then punishing them for lying is confusing to a child. But, beating a child for telling the truth is not confusing. The child learns that the truth is not acceptable. The truth will only bring trouble. In the house of liars, that is.
Thankfully, I didn't live in that household beyond nine years. At the age of 13, I began living with honest adults. And I began to learn that the truth was, indeed, the right way to live. I never once got in trouble for telling the truth by another adult after that. Unfortunately, I did return to living in my father's presence, so I did receive beatings for the truth after the age of 14. But, thankfully, the other person in that house was the most honest person I have ever met in my life. And she is the one who brought about the change in my life to move from dishonesty to honesty.
Once I realized how bad I had gotten with lying and decided to make the change to being an honest person, I realized that the truth really does set you free. Free from fear. Fear from reprisals. Free from deception. It's a freedom I hadn't known until I was in my mid-20's. And it's a freedom I've relished throughout the rest of my adult life. I have friends who have gotten upset with me because I won't tell a "white lie" for them. But, for someone like me, even a little lie could become a snowball that grows as it rolls downhill and enmesh me into the life of dishonesty, again, and I will not allow that to happen.
The thing about the truth is, you don't have to remember it. It is what it is, and you'll never get tripped up by it. One lie begets another begets another begets another until you don't even know what the truth is anymore. If someone asked you your name, you'd be tempted to lie about it because you don't know what the truth is. I love the scripture that describes a liar: "the truth isn't in them." And from personal experience I can tell you that's real. A liar cannot know the truth because it doesn't reside in them. Jesus is the truth, the light, the way and He resides in my heart. So lies no longer have a place in my life. And I love it that way.
Monday, November 20, 2023
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Death and Dying
I recently posted on my Facebook page about death being a part of life and while I do truly understand that, I still hate death and dying. Not for me, but for those I love. I grieve over their lost moments; their lost opportunities. The loved ones who will miss them and the events of their loved ones life they won't be able to share. I've lost a lot of people during the course of my life. Some were due to age, some due to accidents and some due to disease. I've lost loved ones to cancer and to HIV and they are the two most horrible diseases I know of. They're horrible because they rob their victims of dignity. They steal the most fundamental aspects of being human and leave their victims without the ability to share their thoughts and feelings.
And before anyone tells me that HIV is God's curse on man for sin, let me stop you! God doesn't put disease on anyone! That's a lie straight from the pits of hell! There is no way God would strike a person down with disease for sin. He gives each and every person every opportunity to repent of their sin, He doesn't curse them while they're living! I don't know what kind of God you serve, but I feel sorry for you if your God is that hateful and spiteful. That's not the God I know and serve. The God I serve created the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. He spoke every single thing in this universe into being, but He reserved His most precious creation to be formed by His own hand! He created Adam from the dust of the earth by His hand and in His image! He created Eve from the rib of Adam, thus creating all of humanity in His image by His hand! If you think He would then be hate-filled and strike His creation down with disease for sin, you've forgotten how He loved mankind so much He became flesh and died on a cross and rose again on the third day so that He could save mankind from destruction! That's the God I serve: One who loves me so much He was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for me!
I know there are members of my friends and family that are waiting for me on the other side of the River Jordan, waiting for me to step into eternity and spend it with them and with my Saviour. There are others I'm not sure where their eternity will be spent. And I grieve for God if they chose to not allow Jesus into their lives. I grieve for their family members and friends who are left wondering where they are for eternity. I cannot grieve for them because they made their choice. They had the opportunity to choose life over death and they didn't. That doesn't make me hard or uncaring; but I can't waste my time on this earth grieving over something that I cannot change. I will spend my time trying to convince those who haven't chosen Jesus to do so.
And I will miss each and every one who has stepped into eternity and left me here to think of them, love them and remember them.
And before anyone tells me that HIV is God's curse on man for sin, let me stop you! God doesn't put disease on anyone! That's a lie straight from the pits of hell! There is no way God would strike a person down with disease for sin. He gives each and every person every opportunity to repent of their sin, He doesn't curse them while they're living! I don't know what kind of God you serve, but I feel sorry for you if your God is that hateful and spiteful. That's not the God I know and serve. The God I serve created the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. He spoke every single thing in this universe into being, but He reserved His most precious creation to be formed by His own hand! He created Adam from the dust of the earth by His hand and in His image! He created Eve from the rib of Adam, thus creating all of humanity in His image by His hand! If you think He would then be hate-filled and strike His creation down with disease for sin, you've forgotten how He loved mankind so much He became flesh and died on a cross and rose again on the third day so that He could save mankind from destruction! That's the God I serve: One who loves me so much He was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for me!
I know there are members of my friends and family that are waiting for me on the other side of the River Jordan, waiting for me to step into eternity and spend it with them and with my Saviour. There are others I'm not sure where their eternity will be spent. And I grieve for God if they chose to not allow Jesus into their lives. I grieve for their family members and friends who are left wondering where they are for eternity. I cannot grieve for them because they made their choice. They had the opportunity to choose life over death and they didn't. That doesn't make me hard or uncaring; but I can't waste my time on this earth grieving over something that I cannot change. I will spend my time trying to convince those who haven't chosen Jesus to do so.
And I will miss each and every one who has stepped into eternity and left me here to think of them, love them and remember them.
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