Is it Really True?

Reality and truth are closely related but not the same. Reality refers to what actually exists—the state of affairs that is, whether or not anyone recognizes or understands it—while truth refers to how accurately our statements, beliefs, or descriptions correspond to that reality. In other words, reality is the ground, and truth is the measure of our claims about that ground. A belief can be true or false depending on how well it matches reality, but reality itself is neither true nor false; it simply is. This distinction helps explain how people can disagree about what is true while still inhabiting the same reality, and why the pursuit of truth is an effort to bring understanding into closer alignment with what exists.

Do you think I wrote the above paragraph? The truth is, I didn’t.  Microsoft Copilot did which is an AI assistant. With the proliferation of artificial intelligence, it is sometimes difficult to determine what is real or not. And truthfully, truth seems to be another thing. We may be facing the same reality, but what some people believe to be true while having the same experience can be quite different. It boggles my mind. But this is why people can read the Bible and come up with a different interpretation which they see as truth. Let’s take for an example a verse that is used all the time.

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1

I’ll be frank. I sometimes get annoyed when people throw this verse around knowing they did something wrong.  Especially when they are clearly taking it out of context because they do not want to be rebuked for their wrongdoing. So, let us put this Bible verse back in context.

 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5

Notice where the exclamation mark is at. It is right after “hypocrite”.  Jesus is calling out hypocrisy as He often did. He is emphasizing the importance of first looking at ourselves and making corrections before we can clearly point out what is wrong with someone else’s life in order to help them. When we don’t deal with our own problems first, it would be hypocritical of us to meddle in other people’s lives to tell them what is wrong. God wants us to have righteous judgement, and we can only have that when we are right with Him.  And that’s God’s truth!

The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Psalm 119:160

To understand God’s absolute truth, we have to be aligned with His word. If not, our perception of truth can be skewed. And we see this all around us. It doesn’t matter if we are Christian or not. Many Christians do have different views of what is true even though they are reading the same Bible. This can be concerning and often causes divisions. How we perceive truth may show that we are not understanding our reality and it can cause lots of problems such as emotional turmoil, broken relationships and even wars. The devil loves this and because he is the father of lies, he often employs subtle deception to make us stray from God’s truth. Therefore, we must be discerning and careful especially when we are watching the news and listening to anyone who is persuading us to have their view, like a politician or a salesperson. Don’t forget that propaganda is real, but not the truth. We might want to have a prayer like King Solomon’s to ask God to show us what is really true.

And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day… Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 King 3:6 and 9

As Christians, we should want to walk in truth, righteousness and uprightness of heart with God. Then we will be able to discern between good and evil and understand reality. If our hearts are right with God, then the truth which we believe will be aligned with His word and our truth will be firmly established in Him no matter the reality.

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