“Behold, You [God] desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.”1
If you watch TV interviews, you have undoubtedly seen how people with an ax to grind, a pet peeve to air, a theory to promote, or a politician wanting to be re-elected, avoid the question being asked, change the subject, or boringly beat around the bush. Some do this because the question puts them on the spot while others are in deep denial and totally blind to reality.
Some time ago we were involved in a joint action law suit against a fraudulent investment company where our attorney had to state to the defendant over and over, “Just answer the question!” to which the defendant would repeatedly reply, “What question?” Talk about a guilty person avoiding the issue. By way of interest, we won the case hands down.
As the communication specialists remind us, we all have a filter system in our mind that filters or blocks out any message we don’t want to see or hear. In other words we can be very selective in how we see and hear any message regardless of its validity.
For instance, “Selective exposure shows that many people will be open only to messages they want to hear. Selective attention shows that some hear only what they want to hear. Those with selective comprehension or perception will see things only the way they want to see them. Others with selective distortion will twist messages to make them match their self-concept or perception of reality. And those with selective retention choose only to remember what they want to remember. Everything else is filtered out.”2
It boils down to personal truth and honesty. The more honest and truthful I am with my inner self the clearer I will see all other truth—including God’s truth. On the other hand, the more dishonest I am the more I will see all truth—including God’s truth—through a distorted filter and twist it to make it say exactly what I want it to say. The latter is a dangerous and ultimately self-destructive path to follow.
Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the sin of self-deception and denial, and give me the courage to face my own inner truth and reality so I will see more clearly Your truth—as well as all other truth without viewing it through a distorted filter. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”
1. Psalm 51:6, (NASB).
2. Dick Innes, I Hate Witnessing, ACTS Communications, 2003, P. 151. You can order a copy of Dick’s book at: http://tinyurl.com/33kfbk.
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