If you are a writer or blogger, notice some of the comments left on some of your most controversial writings or the statements made by someone you know after you told them about something they should or shouldn’t be doing. Chances are there are some in the group that don’t like the truth you are presenting. Some may even say they agree with what you said but don’t like your delivery. Truth takes on many forms and it isn’t always nice. It can be brash, bold, rude, crazy, wild, polite, sweet and more.
Isn’t it interesting how people on hot seats have a way of “paying you back for rebuking, warning, prophesying or advising” them? They sit and wait for you to error, they blow what you say out of proportion, or they blatantly lie or change the order of events or leave certain parts out. “She was so rude to me. She disrespected me. He doesn’t care about me. He said he would hurt me.” Before long, you are your own Public Relations Specialist. “What I said was…he is lying I didn’t say that…when I wrote this I was merely trying to say…you are taking my words out of context!” But the convicted spirit as some believers might call this kind of person is angry and his or her job is to get you just as angry and frustrated as he or she. “Take back what you said! Do me a favor don’t call or come around me anymore! How dare you say that about me…you call yourself a child of God?” The confused person may even curse you or threaten to do bodily harm to you depending on how much the truth hurts. He or she will tell you they don’t like your tone and “you think you are better than everyone else.” They may even orchestrate a campaign using family, friends or co-workers to go against you all because they don’t like what you have warned, rebuked, or outright scolded them about.
Recall some times in your own life when you didn’t want to hear the truth yourself. You may have agreed with some things the messenger said. Then later you may have found fault with what they told you. Then by the time you went to sleep that night you were thinking about what you should have said and accused them of being “mean or disrespectful.” By morning, after not getting a good night sleep, you are on the phone gossiping about the person and thinking of a way to ruin his or her reputation. As mentioned before and so the old adage goes, “The truth hurts.”
There will be times that the truth will be delivered loving and kindly, but not all the time. Your partner may be mindful of your feelings because he or she knows you well, but your boss, friends and the strangers on the street won’t. The writings that you read online will not always be sensitive, sweet and polite. Although there are people in this world who boast about political correctness, the truth isn’t always going to come across in the way you feel like it should be delivered no matter who you are how much money you have or who you know. As your parents may have told you years ago, “That’s life baby!” You can’t expect the world to coddle you and take you by the hand and say, “Oh poor baby…do this for mommy…”
People don’t want to hear the truth because it doesn’t feel good all the time especially when it comes from a particular race or gender they don’t like. “How dare that woman say that? What does a Jew, a black or a white know about me?” These are popular distractions people use to digress from the truth. They may spend hours debating about something that is irrelevant to the truth. Sometimes the messenger has to bring them back to the point of the conversation almost ten times before they finally say, “Oh, I didn’t know you wanted me to do…was that the point you were trying to make? Sorry, I misunderstood.”
Some people will listen to certain parts of the truth usually the kind that are pleasant then close their ears to the rest. They will commit to doing something that doesn’t require much effort on their part with the expectation that what they get back in return will be much more than what they put in the feat. Sounds selfish, but that’s the truth.
They are afraid of what they may have to sacrifice. They think, “What will I have to give up in order for things to get better in my life? If they expect me to stop doing this or doing that…I don’t think I can.” They may stay awake all night wondering, what others may find out if they start doing things differently. No one wants their weaknesses exposed, but sometimes in order for differences to be made in one’s life what is in darkness must come to light as the Christian’s Bible preaches.
I can recall times when accepting truth wasn’t easy for me, but I managed to when I weighed the benefits with the consequences. I noticed at times those around me like family, friends and co-workers were not always willing to go along with the truth. There were times some stopped talking to me because of it. Whether the truth came in the form of spirituality or a simple statement of honesty that exposed a lie, those who were accustomed to controlling, manipulative and lying behaviors would not bend. They were unwilling to tell the truth no matter who got hurt in the process. Some people just want to hear about “how great, how good” something is and what they stand to gain, but they don’t want to hear about what they need to do and that there are no rewards or praises.
If you haven’t been insulted, ridiculed, abused, or even scammed yet online, don’t worry its coming. If you haven’t been so moved by what someone wrote that it made you say things that you shouldn’t have said, well that’s coming too. If you haven’t felt overwhelmed with grief yet because every account you checked online didn’t give you enough money to buy gas for your car, well get ready because that’s coming. Lastly, if you haven’t ever been at the peak of success and fell, well that’s coming too. The question I have for you is this, “When God sends his messengers to tell you what to do in your life to make some changes to get back on your feet: Will your heart race and heat rise to your cheeks while you think of what insulting thing you could say to your God-sent messenger, angel, relative, friend or stranger? Will you fall down on the floor like a toddler having a tantrum? Will you yell obscenities, tell lies and curse the messenger to their face or behind their back to anyone who will listen?
