Let's be Honest.

I read something this month by author Glennon Doyle that has really stuck with me: "You never promised yourself an easy life, but you did promise yourself a true one."

I've only just discovered Glennon, but I've fallen in love with her and her unflinching honesty. She said on a podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert that her job is to tell the truth for a living; and she does that. She's a radical truth teller. I guess that's why she inspires me.

See, I'm in a place in my life where I'm really prioritizing honesty and truth.

I know that as a Christian, I'm supposed to prioritize these things, anyway, but you know what? In my 25 years, I've learned that while I say I want someone to tell me the truth or give me their honest opinion, I rarely ever mean it.

What I really mean is, "Tell me what I want to hear. Tell me what I want to be true." Believers like Glennon have already figured out that that approach isn't going to work. Untruths and dishonesty are not sustainable; eventually, the sand castles we build around ourselves will crumble, and we will be left on the shifting sand wondering what went wrong.

Honestly, the truth can hurt my feelings. I don't always like the truth because it contradicts how I feel.

I told my youth group this past Wednesday that oftentimes, our feelings lie to us. I may FEEL like I'm totally alone, for example -- but my feelings are not the truth. What's true is that I am a beloved child of the Star Breather, no matter how I feel in the moment. Truth and feelings don't always cooperate.

But I want to pretend that they do.

So when I ask for your honest opinion, I truly hope that it will align with how I feel because deadgummit I want to be comfortable and safe.

But, oh!, what will happen when the tide comes in?

The bible says that the truth will set us free and we've turned that into a pithy bumper-sticker; but what it really means is that truth is unlocks the prisons of our emotions, redirecting us towards establishing facts over feelings.

I no longer want an easy or a safe life -- I want a true one. I want others to know that I am a fearless, radical truth teller even when it hurts. And I want you to be that person, too.

The Word of God tells us this about truth: When Jesus was praying to his Father in the book of John, He told Him, "They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me" (John 17:17-21 NLT)

Jesus expressly says that the truth of the Lord makes us holy or sanctified; God is truth. What God wants for me may not always align with what I want or how I feel, but the honest truth is that Jesus sacrificed Himself for the sake of me so that I may experience the truth of eternal love and salvation. And it's through this truth that we are connected to God, becoming one with the Trinity.

Oh Father,

May we be radical truth tellers. Free us from the lies of our feelings, admitting us into the pastures of truth. May we learn the truth and be the truth so that we may communicate with grace and love to others, freeing them from whatever lies they are clinging to. Lord, may we remember that our journey now becomes someone else's survival guide later on.

Be with us as we seek truth, seek Your face, seek sanctification.

We love You too,

Amen.