July 11, 2012

  • Easily Deceived?

    Most of us know that purposefully deceiving someone is wrong. We know God wants His people to be people of integrity. We all know that one of the Ten Commandments says we should not "testify falsely" against another. Yep. We know.

    But, have you noticed how easy it is to deceive ourselves? Have you observed how easily we reject the truth because it is hard, or we just do not want to believe it?

    When I taught school, there was a little girl who exhibited some seriously concerning behavior which I felt to bring to the attention of her parents. They did not receive it at all. They totally disagreed with my observations. Well, the problem with "turning a blind eye" to wrong behaviors, is that it doesn't change anything. Since this family attending our church,  I watched this child grow more and more wayward through the years. I still feel if they had dealt with certain issues when their daughter was small, she would have turned out differently. She ended up getting herself into a heap of  trouble, and causing her mom and dad a lot of heartache.

    Many of us do not enjoy confrontation. I know I don't like it! But there are times when it is necessary. Ignoring a problem seldom causes it to go away. We can say we don't see it, so it isn't there, but this just isn't realistic.

    We often have trouble being honest about our own feelings. A story is told of a couple who were passed over for a position of leadership in the church. They were so hurt. Their pride was hit hard. But, could they admit this? Could they honestly go to the pastor and pour out this pain so they could be healed of it? No.Instead they gave him a story about how they felt "God was calling them to move on." They left, and they took the hurt with them. How much better it would have been if they could have just honestly said, "We don't understand. We are hurt! Help us!"

    Sometimes we can have trouble being honest about our strengths and weaknesses. We worry that if we admit we are good at something, others might think we are prideful. So, we play this false humility card. Oh, come on now! You know what I am talking about!  Instead of giving glory to God because He blessed us with a gift or talent, we act lowly. When we receive a compliment, why can't we just say a simple, "Thank you!"?

    (Proverbs 20:10 NLT) False weights and unequal measures—the LORD detests double standards of every kind.

    Other times (usually because of our pride) we have trouble admitting when we need help. We say yes to things we know we will not be able to do well, because it's hard to say, "No, I don't think I could do a good job with that." Yes, there is a lot more to living honestly than not telling whoppers, isn't there?

    (Psalm 51:6 AMP.)  "Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart." God wants us to be REAL. To be real, we need to be honest about who we are. We need to pray often and fervently that we will not be deceived, and that we will never be guilty of deceiving another.

    In a world of people being who they are not, be the person that you are. Let's be honest. Let's be REAL!

Comments (11)

  • Ouch! The truth hurts! Thank you Mae!

  • I like real people. 

  • I have found that expressing myself more in this way is usually very helpful; people are more clued in, they know why you may have acted the way you did. Of course, some people are not ready to hear the truth!

  • Lots to think about.  I have a hard time confronting people.

  • I have gone to counseling a few times and it helped.

    i learned a few bad habits as a kid---lying and deceiving.

    The other side of the coin is that Proverbs says we should not meddle in the fights of others.

    I do not confront. I just don't. It is wrong, but that is not me.

    i sort of do end runs in discussing issues so that people do not get defensive when I share something personal.

    I wonder how many times I have been deceived myself. In my old age, I don't trust myself.

    frank

  • Truer words were never spoken.  There is much freedome in Truth, which is exactly what Jesus said.

  • Great lesson. I need the reminder to accept compliments and let people know I need help.

  • We can not begin to correct our mistakes, unless we first aknowledge that we have made them, or so I have been told. I have never made any myself.

  • This is a great encouragement.  I enjoyed this.  Thanks for the challenge.

  • I think when I am hurt I tend to hide because I feel like I am just being petty and selfish This gives me something to think about.

  • @dingdongdingbat - I used to do that, too. I would push the hurt down deep, and tell myself I was being "godly." But, the thing about that, is that it can't heal, and often pops out in not-so-good ways. It is much better to find a good time to talk it out, and to be truthful. A wise counselor once said that feelings are neither right or wrong... they just ARE. How we react to those emotions will determine whether we are right or wrong. It was very freeing for me to see that my emotions were not WRONG. I just had to learn what to DO with them!

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