What about truth

From my quick study of psychology and how the brain works, our perception is not based on the actual ‘TRUTH’ but the truth as we perceive it to be. Let me explain. The truth about any one single matter is established and lucid. Let’s consider a very divisive issue; man was either created or evolved. With the abundance of information and scientific discovery, we are amazed at how intricately life has been formed. From the cells in our bodies to how life is sustained on our planet point to an intelligent mind that is behind the creation of life. The more we learn from science, the more we are intrigued by how intricately life has been formed. Life is not an outcome of happenstance but complex design. Scientific discoveries are unwittingly making the case for creation. According to the TRUTH, man was created. We can’t say it’s possible that man evolved. It is one or the other. I picked this particular issue, because it is easy to see how the truth cannot be a number of things about how man came to be.

As it is popular in our day, truth is not individualized but the truth stands alone. The truth about any issue of life is established on the premise of ‘how things really are’. But our perception of the truth may be different. I may perceive one thing in one way and another person may perceive the same thing in another way. But this does not mean there are two sets of truths. The difference is in how we processed the data, but the data is the same.

We are different in the inside as we are on the outside. As individuals, we have been shaped by the culture we grew up in, our life experiences and by the percepts passed down to us from our parents, caregivers, teachers and even friends. A lot has gone into making us the person we are today. Well, how do we know if we hold the ‘truth’ as it actually is rather than as we perceive it to be. As a woman of faith, I turn to the word of God. The word of God holds the truth as it actually is. It does not always say what I want it to say, but it is the truth. In Romans 12:2, Paul admonishes, ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ Therefore, our mind needs to be renewed by the truth so we can have the sensibility to know the truth. The word declares ‘the truth shall set you free’. For instance, once you learn the mathematical truth that one plus one is two, you know the truth. This truth will allow you to know the true value of one plus one which is two. If someone says to you that one plus one is three, you will reject this false claim because you know the truth. Well, this is a very simplistic idea of truth but it illustrates the point.

 So if the truth is one, why do we have so many variations of it in our world as proclaimed by different religions and sects? It goes back to perception. Our perception dictates our translation of what we see and hear.

There is a hunger in all our hearts to find and know the truth. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Today, I point you to Jesus who proclaimed himself as the ‘TRUTH’!