When Christ dealt with controlling or abusive people, He never allowed facts to obscure truth. The Pharisees used facts to lay a trap for Christ. The facts were that the woman (in John 8:1-11) was guilty of adultery and the law of Moses called for death of the guilty. Ignoring the facts, Christ went to the truth. The truth had to do with the underlying motives of the accusers, the condition of their hearts and the sin in their own lives. Addressing that disarmed the accusers, trapped them in their own guilt, acknowledged the woman’s sin, freed her from condemnation and shame and affirmed her ability to live differently. Facts can be used to manipulate and wound. Truth always liberates. Never reacting to, Jesus always responded within every situation with truth, and the oppressed were liberated, the bruised were healed and the powerful were dispersed. The truth, if we choose to embrace it, will do the same for us. Wherever facts masquerade as truth, we will find our prison; either of our own making or by someone else’s controlling, manipulative hand.
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God’s most fundamental, liberating principle is Truth.
In order for Truth to be Empowering, it must be applied. Truth is Applied by Faith.
The Truth will do us no good if we do not believe it.
“The Good News was preached to them as well as to us. But it did them no good because it was not mixed with faith.” Heb. 4:2
The Children of Israel had seen God’s hand move in ways no other people had ever seen. Yet, it did them no good spiritually because it did not intersect in their hearts with faith. It was mixed with rebellion and confusion, and the Children of Israel died in the wilderness with the Promised Land only two weeks beyond the grasp of their faith.
Hurts bruise us, but it is our response to hurts that enslave us. Applying truth to our responses of anger, bitterness, worry, fear, guilt, or worthlessness can begin to renovate our emotional landscape. The Truth is that Christ can redeem all things; He can restore the wounded heart. If we believe that Christ can heal any wound, there is no need for us to take matters into our own hands.