Knowing the Truth and Living the Truth Changes Everything
I was confident our team had the best communication and listening skills. Easy peasy – the Telephone Game would be no challenge for us. How difficult would it it to repeat a phrase correctly? With three teams of four people, the first person in each line whispered the same phrase into the next person’s ear on their team. The phrase could only said once; no clarifications or questions. That was part of the game. The listener then repeated what they thought they heard to the next person on their team. This continued until the phrase reached the last person, who revealed the phrase out loud.
This study is based off the series The Clarity of Mystery. Click Below to watch it now.
I was quite surprised how distorted the phrases became after relaying them through a few people.
| “I retired from the applesauce factory,”
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“Minions would look really weird in contacts,”
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| became … | became … | |
| “I’m tired. I like apples. It’s a fact” | “Opinions are wonky without context.” | |
| “I’m retired. I worked in a factory” | “Minions wear fun contacts.” | |
| “Inspire me with apples.” | “Many people rock contacts.” | |
Opinions and false teaching don’t change God’s Truth.
In Colossae false teachings and distorted messages were being spread to undermine, confuse, and discourage the new Christians. Paul wrote to the Colossians full of thanksgiving for their faith and to encourage them to stand strong while continuing to grow in Christian community. He reminded them their hope and confidence, anchored on the true message of the gospel, was real and evident by their growing faith and deepening love for others. His message was to move forward, continue to love others and keep sharing the good news; God’s truth doesn’t change.
“the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel”
Colossians 1:5
We have the same problem today. We are flooded with social media posts, people’s opinions, and false teachings that want to undermine, confuse, and discourage us. As a Christian community how can we confidently stand firm in what we believe and the truth of the gospel? How do we keep from being swayed? We need to remember Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians; move forward, continue to love others and keep sharing the good news. God’s truth doesn’t change.
Truth unites us as a community of believers.
Satan is crafty, he wants us to question rather than stand firm on God’s truth. We see Satan’s cunning behavior in the Garden of Eden when he plants seeds of doubt in Eve’s thoughts when he questions, “Did God really say…” (Genesis 3:1).
Be a student of Truth; because knowing the Truth and living the Truth changes everything.
T – Turn your ear to wisdom (Proverbs 2:2) and Trust in the Lord with all your heart. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
R – Regularly pray; offering thanksgiving and praise. (Psalm 100:1-5)
U – Understand your need for the Holy Spirit’s guidance while studying His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
T – Together meet in community; listening, learning, loving, and encouraging one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
H – Hope unites us together in the confident expectation of what God promises in His Word. (Romans 15:13)
Prayer: Dear gracious heavenly Father. I praise and thank you for your gift of eternal life, your love and faithfulness. You are the light that guides my steps. My hope is in you. Help me to see my next steps for you. Send me. Give me eyes to see and words of encouragement. Where do you want me to join you and come along side of others? Amen
More Moments:
One of my daily routines is a quiet time; reading the Bible and/or devotion, praying and asking God to join me in my day and guide my steps. Part of my quiet time is sitting still and listening. I try to do this at the start of each day for about 10-15 minutes.
Prayerfully consider what next steps you need to take to stand firm and anchor your faith. We all need support and encouragement. Maybe God is nudging you to have a consistent quiet time with Him, serve on a team at church, join a community group, and/or a Bible study.