May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise; then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees. (Psalm 119:41-48 NIV)
Telling the truth presents many challenges for individuals seeking new life in recovery. We have a history of lies and manipulative ways. We used every resource to get what we wanted when we wanted it. Those habits of conveniently hiding the truth, when it was to our advantage, can be a challenge to overcome. There's plenty of wreckage around from our bad choices and the awful truth of what we have done causes us anxiety. We are afraid of the opinions of others, of the consequences. We know we need to talk about our past behaviour, but we're not sure how to go about it without arguments and harsh misunderstandings which create more problems than solutions.
God’s invitation to us is to know freedom by living in the truth. God promises that when we walk in the truth we won’t need to be afraid or ashamed. The past is what it is, and God’s mercy and forgiveness are abundant enough to forgive and heal all of it. Even though the way of truth-telling is unknown and uncertain for us, God says that we’ll experience freedom when we put our hand in His and follow Him. When we tell the truth, everyone may not agree with us. Our perceptions of events may not be the same. People may not initially be supportive of us when we get honest and we need to accept this.
In the face of all these challenges our only hope is to rely on God’s promise to us that truth telling is the right way and, when we obey, we will live supported in His unfailing love, without shame. Today is a new opportunity to trust in God’s word and walk in honesty before Him and others.
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Audio for Sunday, March 13, 2016
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