Truth is costly. Ever notice that?
Now lies? They’re another story—dime a dozen on the front end. But let’m sit long enough and they’ll cost you even more than truth. They’ll cost you everything.
Make sense?
No?
Then allow me to back up a bit and perhaps it will.
Truth is a Rolls Royce. It’s classy and holds its value nicely.
But, as I said, ‘Truth is Expensive,” however, I don’t want you to get me wrong—truth though pricey, has some definite advantages to it. Such as
- It retains it’s value (often even increasing in value—Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well.”
- It makes its way to the surface (You may have heard it put, “The truth always comes out.”)
- It’ll set you free (This one comes complete with its own verse—John 8:32, “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”)
- Truth is a person (John 14:6 – also has its own verse), and that person is Jesus!
Now, before you get all excited—remember there’s a price-tag attached to truth, after all, this post is entitled, “The Price of Truth,” eluding to the fact that truth does indeed have its costs. Truth is (no pun intended) the truth can be very, very costly—maybe that’s why so many choose not to live a life of truth let alone pursue it at all costs. So, in the interest of fairness and helping us all make the right choice, here are some of the costs to consider as you mull over whether or not to live a life of truth…
- It could cost you some “friends” (quotes intended)
- It could do real damage to your ‘approval rating’ (Just ask Jesus)
- It could actually leave you feeling completely alone (though never for long and never in reality for the believer—Jesus is always with us)
A lie; however, is a lot more like a 1972 Ford Pinto, complete with exploding gas tank and all. Even if you manage to maintain it enough to get you from point A to point B, it’s hardly worth it because of the constant dread of knowing that ultimately the thing is going to blow up!
- Lies require a lot of maintenance (endless maintenance really). Whenever you tell a lie, more lies have to follow in order to shore up the original lies.
- Enough lies, and the damaging affects will begin to show up in other areas of your life—like your reputation.
- Tell even more and you get invisibly promoted by those around you into Olympic liar status more commonly known as, ‘pathological.’
- Still more and you even affect the value of truth in your own life—the worth of truth falls dramatically until you receive the moniker of being, ‘untrustworthy.’
So, where does all of this leave us? Hardly a convincing case for either truth or lies thus far. But I promise you, there is a tipping point and we’ll all face it together in part 2 of this mini-series.
Until then.