HOW DO YOU DEFINE TRUTH?
One day my husband come in from the garden where he had been working. He ask me how I would define truth. I told him I’d have to think about it, so I began thinking of a good explanation. After some serious thought, I told him that I thought that truth just IS. You can’t change the truth….it just is….but that sometimes we believe something and find out it isn’t true, so we change our perspective. We learn as we go. None of us are perfect, so we sometimes learn the hard way, by experience. So then I went to the scriptures and found this scripture in D&C (Mormon scriptures) 93:24,25 “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come. And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.”
There are really only two sources – one being the absolute truth coming from God and the other from the father of lies, Satan. So, what is one to do? First of all we must recognize where our beliefs are coming from. How do we do that? All truth comes from God. God, for cannot lie.
Now let us look at the mess we’re in now in the whole world. How did we get where we are? Why is there so much hate, crime, and wickedness? That’s a very simple question to answer. People have forgotten their maker and what he has asked them to do. They no longer know what being spiritual minded means. Being spiritual isn’t being religious. Religions are mostly the philosophies of men mingled with scripture. A spiritual person takes the Holy Spirit to be their guide and follow they follow that spirit. “Lean not on the arm of flesh.”
Let’s just dwell on why Jesus came to the earth and what he taught. He was just a simple, beautiful person that loved all he came in contact with. He didn’t have a synagogue to meet in with his followers did he? No. He taught the multitudes outside sitting on a hillside or wherever it was convenient. What is the most important thing he taught? Here is a very good scripture defining that. This is from the Book of Mormon.
2 Nephi 9:20-23, 27 “O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all
things, and there is not anything save he knows it. And he cometh into the world
that he may save all men if they will harken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth
the pains of every living creature, both men and women, and children, who belong
to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon
all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day. And he
commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having
perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of
God………..But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the command-
ments of God like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days
of his probation, for awful is his state.”
Jesus came to give us his laws and commandments that we might be saved in his kingdom if we will be baptized and follow him.
Let’s look at some of his teachings. Foremost and above all is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, might, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. Love tops the list.
There are different kinds of love, but Christ love is Unselfish love. What does that mean? It means that we forget our own selfish desires in order to help and serve others. When we become selfless instead of selfish, then we’re on the road to realizing what Jesus is all about.
He healed the sick, raised the dead, comforted those that had cause to mourn. He told us to pray for our enemies, and to forgive seventy times seven. He suffered death on the cross that we might have the opportunity to live again, as he did when he was resurrected.
Now let’s go to the flip side of the coin…..
Do you think letting Satan into this world was a mistake? Apparently, this was the most wicked of all worlds because they crucified out Savior. Lucifer rebelled against God the Father and was cast down to the earth with a third of the hosts of heaven and became Satan. It was necessary to have opposition in all things so we could learn. This world is where we really either pass the test or flunk. This is post graduate work. It’s HARD!
Now lets talk more about truth. Every word God speaks is the truth. So if we really want to know how to find true peace and happiness, we will start reading the scriptures to see what he really does expect of us.
To the wicked, the truth is hard. They don’t want to face that. It’s just as true that Satan exists it is that God does. He does all he can to lure as many as he can through drugs, alcohol, sex, porn, selfish pursuits, all sorts of deceptions and secret combinations, wealth, power, etc to lure them to hell. He wants everyone he can entice to be as miserable as he is. When have you ever seen a wicked person happy? Or at peace? What about all the hate we’re seeing?
Let me tell you a little story that I know many of you have heard, but it illustrates so well how to overcome the evils of this world, as I mentioned earlier.
There was person who wanted to know the difference between Heaven and Hell. That person was taken to a place where there was a multitude of people, whining and crying out in
anger, pain and starving to death. In front of them was a huge pot of delicious stew. The only problem was, they had spoons with very long handles. They could reach the stew, but the handles were so long that they couldn’t get them to their mouths. A very horrible situation. Now this person was taken to another place where the same thing was going on, only all the people were happy and healthy, laughing and having a good time. They were feeding each other. That’s the difference between heaven and hell. When we loose ourselves in the service of others, we find happiness and peace.
The principle of Cause and Effect comes into play here. There are always consequences for the choices we make, good or bad. Even facing the hard, cruel facts….the truth will never change. Good will always be good and evil will always be evil. Let’s all strive to become better, more loving, forgiving, Christ -like people and change while there’s still time.
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