Hope In God’s Truth - The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)

IN THE MARKET OF IDEAS, truth should beat the competition every time. But it doesn’t. That’s because in spite of all our claims of objectivity, we are all inevitably subjective. We can arrive at something approaching unbiased truth, but we ultimately choose which facts to consider and which facts to ignore. This is true in the public discourse about faith, to be sure; but it’s even more true inside our own minds. We don’t always have a balanced perspective. We assume things about other people’s motives and thoughts. We imagine the worst. We let our fears, worries, resentments, wounds, and judgments carry far too much weight. In other words, we listen to lies.

When we speak the language of hope, lies become laughable and truth becomes clear. The language of hope assumes the best and is not ashamed to be proven wrong on occasion. Why? Because much more often in the Kingdom of God, it will be proven right. Paul wrote that we are able to demolish arguments and pretensions that set themselves against God and that we are able to take thoughts captive and align them with the mind of Christ. Quite a few Christians are not taking advantage of those possibilities, whether in their conversations with others or the thoughts in their own heads. But that doesn’t nullify the promise. When our hearts are filled with the culture of God’s Kingdom, we are able to see truth and dismiss deception.

One of the rarest commodities in the world right now is a healthy perspective. Have one. Look at falsehoods, deceptions, the language of animosity, and arguments against God that are rampant in social media and other public forums, and laugh at their futility. Don’t get caught up in such thinking; you speak a different language. Your words and your attitude—your refusals to buy into empty disputes and debates—strip lies of their power. Your hope overcomes. It is a precious commodity. Offer it freely to everyone.

{Jesus, you never got sucked into a futile debate. You spoke truth—often pointedly—but you refused to treat it as if it were up for grabs. May I do the same, and may the truth I speak always bring life. Amen.