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Are You Ashamed of the Truth?
“ARE YOU ASHAMED OF THE TRUTH?”
In 2 Timothy 1:7-8, we read, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord.” Even though Timothy knew the truth, there were circumstances in his life that caused him to withdraw because of fear. We do not know what caused him to be timid, but we know many other Bible characters spoke boldly for the Lord. We are not unlike Timothy in that we sometimes stand for the truth and at other times our boldness escapes us.
Think about the following characters from the Scriptures and their boldness in proclaiming the truth:
Elijah was not afraid to stand for the truth. How amazing it is to think of the prophet confronting the 450 prophets of Baal. The showdown on the mountain speaks to Elijah’s boldness. How can anyone forget how he mocked the prophets when Baal would not send fire to consume their sacrifice? At this point in his life, Elijah was not afraid and did not have a spirit of fear.
Nathan was not afraid to stand for the truth. Nathan’s king and friend, David, had done wrong and had hidden his sins successfully from the nation. David was a lying, adulterous murderer. Nathan approached David and confronted him with the truth. Nathan proclaimed boldly, “Thou art the man.” These four words could have cost Nathan his life, but he spoke them anyway.
John the Baptist was not afraid to stand for the truth. The nation knew that Herod had taken the wife of his brother, Philip, to be his own wife. John confronted the king. John told him that he had violated the Law of God many times. It eventually cost John his life, but he did not hold back in speaking the truth.
Are we afraid to stand for the truth? We have seen in our nation an erosion of God’s Laws over the last several years. Many sinful practices are allowed by ungodly men and women. Redefining marriage and killing innocent souls in the womb have become common ways of life for many. God is being mocked and His Laws are being completely ignored. How do we as Christians react? Do we react with a spirit of fear or with boldness like Elijah, Nathan, and John the Baptist did?
Written by Larry Schneider
