While visiting Korea last spring, I happened to catch a daytime drama. I’m really drawn to kind women, and one of the young characters looked so kind that I became an ardent fan of the show.
The girl is a stepsister of the main character. The main character is very ambitious and scheming. She wants to marry the son of the CEO of a large corporation. However, he is in love with the kind girl. The main character tries to hide the fact the girl he is in love with is her stepsister and tries to get the man for herself. That’s the basic story.
The main theme of the drama is deceit. One lie begets another lie. One falsehood leads to another falsehood. As a result, people get hurt and suffer. As I watched the drama, I often felt like shouting, “Tell the truth! Tell the truth!”
In real life, there are people who live the same way, by compounding lies. When they make a mistake, instead of admitting it, they try to hide it with a small lie. When this lie is about to be exposed, they tell another lie to cover it. Eventually, they end up with a life full of lies. They lie about themselves, their careers, and their families. Their lives become so entangled in untruths that people – including themselves – don’t know what’s true anymore.
When your life is full of lies, you lose your freedom and are bound to disappoint and hurt the people around you.
To be free, you must be honest. First of all, you must be honest with God. You must admit your mistakes, confess them to God, and ask for forgiveness. This is called repentance.
Then you must be honest to people. Don’t try to cover up your mistakes or justify your wrongdoings. Admit your mistakes, admit that you are wrong, and ask for forgiveness. Otherwise your relationships with other people will be strained and your life will be more complicated.
Jesus said that the truth will make you free (John 8:32). There is freedom in the truth. Christians can live truly free lives because we have in our church communities true friends with whom we can be transparent and who weep and pray for us instead of criticizing us when we confess our sins.
Freedom in life is one of the privileges of the children of God. I hope that all our church members enjoy this freedom.
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