To Tell You the Truth

I didn't really want to write about this today but it's been on my mind the last few days...and if I'm laying my heart out on the table...I guess this is an h'ordeurve.

I'm an advocate for the truth. I have always told my kids that telling the truth is more important than anything that they've done wrong...and that if I hear the truth first, from them, their consequences will not be as severe. I want my children to appreciate the value of the truth. I pray every day that they will know the truth and that God will give them his gift of discernment to know the difference between truth and lies. I believe that truth is life...the foundation of trust...and without it, relationships are empty. I seek truth. Jesus calls Himself the Truth.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6

So we talk "the truth" but how do we live it out amongst those closest to us?

I was convicted through my daughter this week...and have had a gentle reminder of the importance of living in truth, living out truth, and telling the truth...all the time...even when it doesn't seem like a big deal, or it feels easier or seems easier to not exercise truth.

Our daughter has a cat that she loves like crazy...and she wanted her cat to have kittens more than anything. We however, felt that it was not the best for us to have kittens right now and so we took 'Angel' to the vet and well, you know what happened.

However, I did not have the heart to tell our daughter that we had gotten Angel fixed...so I told the rest of the family not to tell her. Everytime, (which was all the time) our daughter asked if Angel was going to have kittens....I would just say,"Well, you never know...." meanwhile, I did know....that it wasn't going to happen.

This was a couple of years ago. A few days ago...someone was over and asked me a question about Angel...I was standing at the counter making dinner and simply replied..."Oh, yeah...we had her fixed a couple of years ago." My daughter caught my eye with a look of devastation on her face. She motioned for me to come over to her and told me that she needed to talk to me alone in my bedroom.

When I got there, tears were spilling over her cheeks and I thought, "Oh boy, here it goes...I'm going to have to explain all the reasons why we got Angel fixed and.....but she looked up to me and all she said was...."You lied to me."

The Holy Spirit convicted my heart. I confessed to the Lord and to her and asked for forgiveness. We talked about it and prayed together. I didn't make excuses or brush it off as nothing. We talked about trust and truth...I asked her to learn from my mistake.

Later that night...her and her brother were fussing with each other...and she asked him to leave her alone....I was around the corner and she didn't know I was there... "I've had a rough night," she told him. "You could guess for a million years, and you'd never guess what Mom did."
She didn't tell him.

I am reminded of the value of the truth....my kids are not too young to know the difference...and they are learning through life....through my life.

John 8:32
Jesus said, "and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."