Why truth is a person

I am girl from small town USA. I’m used to simple and easy and right and wrong. I may have grown up, gained perspective in college, learned to ask questions when I became a parent and then widened my understanding even more with living overseas, but still at heart, life is simple and straightforward to me. You can’t take that black and white perspective away. It’s how I see God, how I see people, how I see culture and it shapes how I make choices in life. I’m so thankful for it, because the more I discover the world, the more I see gray. There are too many options, too many opinions, too many choices to choose from, too many things that can be wrongly understood and badly interpreted no matter your intent.

It is hard to not feel overwhelmed. It is hard to feel like you can actually know what is right, what is not offensive and what is the knowledgeable or educated response to anything. There are always more complicated explanations, every growing variety of perspectives and a thousands options for what “could” be the solution to something. I don’t know about you, but I get so tired of it. Whether it’s parenting or religion, political party or personal health, everything seems to swirl and blur in and out of focus. The overload of information, opinions, beliefs and statistics hit you like a dump truck every time you open your internet browser or social media apps.

You feel like if you stand for something, someone somewhere will punish or criticize you for it. We are so afraid of criticism and hatred and opinions of others these days. Having an “open mind or perspective” is valued above believing in an absolute “truth.” I’m so weary of it, so weary of the endless searching I see of the world around me, always asking questions and gaining knowledge, but never actually understanding and knowing what is right or true. It makes sense why suicides rates are going up and addictions of every kind saturate our world with ferocity and relentlessness.

I’m not afraid to say it. There is no hope without Jesus. He is truth. He is the only way to salvation. My entire life is staked on the reality of Jesus. Without Him there is nothing else. Like the Peter says in the book of John,” Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

Jesus first words to His first disciples were so simple. He said, “Follow me.” They didn’t know who He was or what He would teach or really anything about Jesus. Yet, somehow when they saw His face and heard His voice, that was all it took. They left their boats and left everything behind to follow Him. It is a choice, but it is also about encountering a person. The entire gospel is about Jesus. If you really met Jesus you would know it and never be the same again. He is the entire embodiment of right and good and absolute truth. How desperately our “open-minded,” confused and heavily opinionated world needs to know Jesus. He brings peace to chaos, clarity to confusion, truth to lies and hope to despair.

He alone does have the words of eternal life. What He says is true. We can hold fast it, no matter the criticism or hatred. Because it is just that good. There is nothing better. I dare anyone to tell me otherwise.