TRANSCRIPT: Good morning, Five Minute Families. Welcome back to our Key Truths for Families series. Today, we will focus on the concept of Truth as found in Ephesians chapter 6 as Paul describes the full armor of God.

Verse 14 begins, “Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist”

To be honest, when I think about a suit of armor I do not think about a belt as part of that suit. I usually think of something more like a knight in shining armor. At the time of the writing of Ephesians what Roman soldiers wore would have been well known. The belt bound the whole armor together. Another way to say that would be that everything would fall apart without the belt.   For the lives of Christ-followers to be effective, we must be standing and ready, held together with the binding foundation of truth.

One of the greatest questions we can ask is “what is truth?” Pontius Pilate asked that in John 18 when talking to Jesus. So, we examine that same question. What is truth and how can we embrace truth in our families? We echo Steve Austin in his statement “There is only one truth: God’s perspective.” It is our natural inclination to see things simply as we see them – our eyes, our perspectives. Yet, our perspectives are influenced by many factors and can change.

Our eyes can deceive us because our individual perspectives only allow us to see a situation from one original viewpoint. That viewpoint, however, is not the only perspective. So, as a five-minute family committed to glorifying the Lord and caring for one another, we must choose to engage in a process of thinking through all of life’s circumstances – the good and the bad – through the vantage point of God’s perspective which is THE Truth.

We must:

1. First, examine what binds us together. Does your family regularly go to church, participate in Bible study, or encourage daily devotionals? If you do not already have a family habit of examining God’s word, begin with reading five verses a day or discussing the sermon for five minutes each Sunday afternoon. Let your truth seeking grow from there.
2. Second, we must review what is our perspective based on. Some families have faced trial after trial, and it can be hard to see the good in any aspect of life. Remember that your perspective is not the ultimate true perspective. For example, Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery; then he was falsely accused of inappropriate behavior and forgotten in jail for years. His perspective COULD have been that life is awful and he was worthless, but God’s perspective – which is ultimate Truth – was that Joseph was being prepared for the redemption and saving of God’s people.
3. Third, in John 14:6 God reveals that Jesus is truth. Jesus specifically says, “I am the way the truth and the life.” If your family is not certain of this truth, we highly encourage you to find trusted, godly mentors that can help walk you through the tough questions and concerns you have. God is Truth, so your doubts and skepticism do not scare Him. He wants to reveal the answers to you. Keep seeking together.
4. Fourth, you must be aware that truth is under attack and be proactive. When your thinking or actions begin to be misaligned from God’s Truth, you need to check your belt. There are many out there that do not want you to walk in the truth. Your sin and failures feed their evil and their selfish desires. As a family, resolve to pray together, talk together, and walk together in Truth – God’s Truth – not your perspective. Praying together and discussing God’s word daily helps to be able to more quickly and easily identify falsehoods that get hurled at us.
5. And, finally, speak the truth in love – God is perfectly balanced in holiness and love; we will fail, but we need to try. When someone in the family or in our biblical community is walking through life only using his or her perspective for guidance, he or she will fail. When we see that, we must remember that it is God’s truth we need to speak and we need to do it as lovingly as Jesus did with the woman at the well.

Five minute families, thank you for joining us this morning, and know that while we all make mistakes, God is bigger than those failures, and He is standing ready to give us the foundational piece of armor to bind all the other pieces together – the belt of Truth.  Are you ready for your next family adventure and challenge at a Clear View Retreat family camp?  Get more information at clearviewretreat.org. Be blessed!