In review of John 8:32 it says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”
Bottom Line:
Following Jesus Teaching will reveal the truth to you, one that will set you free.
What this means to me:
I will truly be his disciple if I remain faithful to his teaching. Then I will know what the truth is. And it is a truth that will set me free.
Today’s verse comes from the last part of the book of John chapter 8. In it John explains that Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
It's amazing that I often still do, what I don’t want to do. Why is this, especially when I know what are the right things are to do.
Seems the sinful nature within me causes me to make the wrong choices. It’s actually easy to relate to Paul when he says, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate …. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t” (Romans 7:15, 17-18 NLT). At least I’m not alone in this feeling.
Even after becoming a believer, there’s this tension that still exists inside of me. One one hand I have the new good nature that God gave me, but I also have my old sinful nature that is pulling at me.
The good news is that there is a way out! Jesus promised as refrenced in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (NIV).
So the secret to personal change is not willpower. It’s not a pill. It’s not a resolution. It’s not some vow that you make. The secret to personal change is not something you do or say.
The secret to personal change is something I know. I know the truth. When I change the way I think, it changes the way I feel. And when I change the way I feel, it changes the way I act.
Behind every self-defeating act is a lie that I believe. It may be a lie about myself, my past or future, God, or others.
So why do I do something that I know is bad for me? Its because I think there’s some kind of payoff. Now that’s where the lie is! I can only change and fulfill God’s purpose for my life if I start with God’s truth. If I want to change the way I live, I have to start in my mind. I have to know and believe God’s truth.
When I know the truth, the truth will set me free. What I need to do is expose and uncover the lies that I have been accepting. Some of those lies I picked up on the playground as a kid or from TV. Some of them I picked up from my parents or I creatively thought up myself. But they are lies, and when learn to I reject them and instead find out what God has to say, I will experience freedom like I’ve never known.
Today I will consider the lies that have been on repeat in my head for years. Which of God’s truths do I need to replace them with?
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