“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15 NIV
There is only one way to spot truth, through the lens of Jesus. “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37 NIV). Exposing the truth is why Jesus came to earth. The ultimate truth, we are all sinners in need of a Savior. But there are a lot of false prophets in the world, the lies they spin so close to the truth, but not quite. They can easily deceive us.
I watched a Ted talk on “How to Spot a Liar” by Pamela Meyers. Her studies have found some interesting statistics. In the first 10 minutes of conversation between friends, on average 1 lie is told. If you are talking to a stranger for 10 minutes, on average they lie to you 3 times. The majority of lies told are little white lies, meant to protect, not meant to harm. The average person lies between 10-200 times a day. She also discusses how our bodies betray us when we lie. If a liar is saying no, when the answer is actually yes, unless they train their head to stay still, his head will bob up and down, saying yes while his lips are saying no. Her study proves we are all liars, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not. Lying is a part of our lives, discerning the truth is the challenge.
Lying is a part of our lives, discerning the truth is the challenge.
Jesus’s remedy for identifying liars in our life, look at the fruit they produce (Matthew 7:16 NIV). The proof is always in the pudding. When a person is following Christ, you will see the fruits of the spirit in their wake: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). If they aren’t producing that kind of fruit in their life, they are false prophets. They are liars who have not taken responsibility for their lies. Liars weave their tall tales so intricately it looks like a spider’s web. Eventually, that web will break and the truth will be found. Truth always survives when the web disintegrates. The person who brings the truth is Jesus. When we keep the Son in our eyes, false prophets don’t stand a chance. The easiest way to spot a liar is to keep your eyes on Jesus.
Question of the Day:
What truth is Jesus trying to tell you?
Further Reading: Genesis 20:1-22:24 NIV, Matthew 7:15-29 NIV, Psalm 9:1-12 NIV, Proverbs 2:16-22 NIV
