Youth • “Know Thyself”

by Pastor Chris Pierce

Lately, I seem to be engaging in the same conversations, both in school and at church.  Is truth relative?  With every conversation, I listen to young men and women process the concept that truth may be more than perception.  As I listen, I hear their hearts - we don’t want to let go of our ability to define truth.  If we see that truth is something that we abide by instead of create, there is a chance that we will be deemed failures.

I have been challenging the students in our youth ministry to take some time and really investigate how well they know God.  The more we investigate knowing God, the more we realize that there is only one truth –  Jesus Christ (John 14:6).  If Christ is truth, and our perceptions may not be, then who are we? 

A "truth" that I easily believe is that I will be a tired, worn-out man who has little potential to greatly affect the world.  There are mornings where I wake up, look in the mirror, and cringe because I believe the "truth" that nothing good will come from that day.  Then again, truth is not relative.  Truth is absolute.  Truth is Christ.

As I have accepted Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection for me, here is what Truth says about me:

• I am blameless and free. (Colossians 1:22)
• I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. (Colossians 3:12)
• I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a People for God’s own possession. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
• I am loved. (1 John 4:10)
• I have been redeemed. (Revelation 5:9)

We don’t have to live our lives trapped by relative truth that morphs with our ever-changing circumstances or emotions.  This week, I left the students in our youth ministry with this task:  “Know Thyself." 

What truth are you allowing to define you?