S143P1 – The fruit of truth: freedom
Jn. 8:31-32
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
He practiced his religion faithfully, and it took the place of priority in his life. It seemed to others like this was a great religion. He was calm, reserved and respectful; he was generous and polite. A colleague of his decided to study with him, but the time of enlightenment the colleague expected would turn out to be enlightening in a different way. First came the ceremonial hand-washing, then the dietary restrictions. He had to dress differently, speak differently and even sleep differently. Before long, he was afraid to speak or even move without knowing which rules applied. Instead of becoming calm and reserved he was turning into a fearful, nervous wreck whose life had stopped.
While there is a difference between a truth and the truth, these truths share some common fruit. Here, Jesus is speaking of the freedom that comes from the truth, which is the truth of the gospel message. Spiritual freedom does not come by any other means. Yet, freedom is also the fruit of truth generally. It may not be everlasting spiritual freedom that we receive from simply being honest people in life, but being honest keeps us from the bondage of deception. The same way false religion keeps us bound by its deception, all deception includes some kind of bondage. To counteract that, we must operate in truth. It keeps us from judgment and from the bad consequences of the lie.
Speaking the truth will not be comfortable at all times, and it may actually put us in dangerous situations, but we have no other choice. We can be bound by the fear of what will come from being honest, or we can face that fear and be free from that bondage. We may suffer consequences in this world for being honest, but that is temporary. If that is what it takes to remain spiritually free, it is worth it. If fear is to motivate us, let it be the fear of bondage, judgment and all the negative consequences of dishonesty that we do not want. Father, let it stay fresh in our minds that truth brings freedom, and make us wise to run from the dishonesty and deception that brings bondage.