John 8:32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Here we have one of the more famous scriptures in the Bible; yet today I’m seeing it so much differently, almost as if I’d never heard it before. I’m used to seeing this as evangelistic verse that explains the process of a non believer coming to know the truth of Christ for the first time. Or when a true believer learns a new understanding of God’s promise to us. Then that understanding becomes a transformational point in their life.

However, today what I see is how knowing the truth can set you free; and yet that very freedom can reveal hurt and pain you’ve inflicted on others. So the first Truth that is hopefully learned today is that regardless of where we are in our walk, we can still come to know The Truth.

Secondly, we need to keep (continuously; sustained) believing in and abiding in Jesus. The text tells us that Jesus was talking to the Jews, but not just any Jews but only the ones that were believers. Does this mean that God does not talk to non-believers, of course not He speaks to everyone. But He certainly chooses to have a more regular dialogue with those of us who believe (we call it prayer). Jesus explained that those who dwell on God or keep their mind’s on the Word (meditate); are disciples and know The Truth.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that once the Truth is known, it will make us Free. In my case recently the Truth was made known and what it revealed was my failure as a husband. Now while I knew I was not the perfect husband, I never realized the level of hurt and pain I’d been causing my wife for years, because I failed to “Put Her First; Above Myself,” like Christ Loved the Church (Eph 5:25).

You know how the buzz words for so many people these days is live your truth. The problem with that is, if everyone has a different truth then we’ve got billions of truths to figure out. However, only by knowing The Truth, can we be set Free. In my mind, I was not great but I was doing OK; in reality I was causing significant hurt/pain and resentment.

Now I titled this “When the Truth Hurts,” because The Truth; Jesus Christ (John 14:6), made me free by by revealing the Truth to me. Because He set me free I now need to deal with the Hurt I caused. We were recently, attending a virtual marriage conference, and a Kevin Plank quote was used; “trust is built in drops and lost in buckets.” I will have to be like Nehemiah and begin rebuilding our trust. So when the truth hurts, it’s time to rebuild and since it takes a heck of a lot of drops to fill the knocked over buckets. There’s a Ton of Work to Do; and I cannot do it myself…..But God is Able; actually More Than Able (Eph 3:20)!!