Truth Checkers

Now more than ever, we are saturated by news.

Even if we choose to turn off the television at home, “breaking news” seems to follow us wherever we go: going out to eat, waiting in the doctor’s office or even pumping gas (yes, even some gas stations have tv monitors in the gas pumps).

We cannot escape it.

So I have started to wonder how busy the fact checkers of the world are right now.

What is a fact checker?

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines fact checking as “the process of checking all of the facts in a piece of writing, news article or speech”. The goal is to ensure that nothing that is shared is ingenuine or fake.

“Fake news” seems to be a hot button right now for so many.

But “fake news’ is old news to me.

Let me explain.

I am 100 and it’s none of your business pounds.
That is a fact.
The scale is my fact checker.
But I can take that fact and turn the newsreel that plays in my mind into something completely different than truth.

The “fake news” commentary sounds something like this:
“You are unattractive.”
“You are undesirable.”
“You will never look as good as that person.”

Facts can apply to anything in our lives: appearance, belongings, or circumstances.
Wearing no brand shoes, the dollar signs attached to a salary, the address someone lives at… all of these may be facts in someone’s life.

Facts can be confirmed, but facts do not always equal truth.

A childhood friend had to move into an apartment following the divorce of his parents.
It wasn’t until we were adults that he shared how that fact translated into a truth for him that he did not measure up to his peers. Another friend who is a stay at home mom shared that she felt less than her peers who worked outside the home.

Friends, we do not need fact checkers in our lives.

We need truth checkers.

We need to verify what we believe to be true before allowing it to penetrate our hearts and allowing “fake news” to overrun our thoughts about who we are.

This is a daily act of choosing which station we allow to play in our minds…our truth or His truth.

Trust me, His truth is the most reliable source. There is no “fake news” in His word.

To become truth checkers, we must be truth seekers.
What does His word say about who were are?

~Valuable (Matthew 6:26)
~Set apart (Jeremiah 1:5)
~Chosen (1 Peter 2:9)
~Children of God (1 John 3: 1-2)
~His (Isaiah 43:1b)
~Known (John 10:27-28)

Father, help us to be accountable to each other, making sure we always check Your truth against our own.

Lord, Your Word says, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ (John 8:32).

Amen.