Can You Handle the Truth?

Joyce Meyer¹ frequently makes a statement. She teaches that the truth will set you free. However, an individual is not set free by the truth of someone else. Joyce really clears this up when she states that it is not your truth that sets me free, but, the truth about me that sets me free. If this is true, I have to take a really close look in the mirror. To use Alcoholics Anonymous vernacular, I have to do a searching and fearless moral inventory.² It has taken me 38 years to realize that I have boundaries and limits. These boundaries and limits are not always self-imposed. Sometimes, our genetics play a role in setting the path we are able to walk.

The way I vary from the "norm" manifests in three ways. I have been diagnosed with depression, attention deficit disorder and Asperger's syndrome. To sum up my how I am affected, I usually describe myself as a moody introvert who is impulsive and has a difficult time communicating verbally. I seem to have learned to compensate for this by developing my writing skill. As some of you can tell, at times, my grammar needs work. I was a growing Christian for a lot of years before I became truly set free, free from uncertainty and the need to fit into a society whose mold did not fit me. Free to make choices that in the long run will be productive and fit the way God made me. God sewed a set of genes together in my mother's womb, my goal is not to play blame games, but to effectively walk the path on which God has set me.

This path is not the same for everyone. We all have different truths or "genetic" predispositions to deal with. We are advancing technologically to the point where we can recognize these predispositions. As we grow in our knowledge, we must not get to the point where we try to "change" people and wipe out genetic variations. We must use this knowledge for understanding not control, for loving, not condemning.

Many of our problems in modern society are based on our chosen inability to accept our differences. One of the most recent examples of this is the part of the "culture war" that is being raged against those who are sexually different. Being someone who is affected by a genetic variation which affects my communication skills (a very intricate part of life), I can not accept the broad generalizations of the Bible concerning those who practice other lifestyles. The link between my situation and genetics has yet to be scientifically proven. This same situation is true for homosexuals. The possibility of these genetic links has also not been scientifically rule out. Therefore, I cannot say that all who are sexually different are immoral. The variety of humanity is as complex as the human genome itself.

Recognition of healthy traits in a person is crucial to determining their character. If a person is loving, responsible, peace filled and secure; who am I to say that person is immoral because of one difference from myself. Being sexually different should not be a basis for placing a person in the category of second class citizen, in fact, it is possible that the other person is healthier than most. Drawing a conclusion about someone based solely on one aspect of their life is contempt prior to investigation and nothing is better at propagating ignorance.³

Truth will set you free. Your truth will set you free. The fact is God loves you right where you are. Christ died on the cross so that all you have to do to have a relationship with Him is choose to. The more you fall in love with Christ the more that truth will be seen in your life. Even if your life is outside the ability of others to understand. Personally, I don't understand homosexuality. How can I? I have never experienced that feeling or need. I believe it is a wiser choice to encourage love than to condemn a behavior. It is wiser to encourage responsibility than to condemn a difference. It is wiser to help someone fall in love with Christ and let Him bring the truth out than to judge and ostracize.

Let Christ show you the truth about you and set you free.

Let Christ deal with those who judge you.

Let Christ help you grow in love.

Let Christ help you love who so ever, when so ever and why so ever.

1. Enjoying Everyday Life; Television Broadcast of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

2. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition, p. 63 & 64.

3. Based on a quote of Herbert Spencer in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition, p. 568.