Sermon Series Blog: The Truth Hurts Pt.3

When the Truth Hurts, Stay

Jesus does not tell us the truth to destroy us. He tells us the truth because He wants us free.

There are some questions we ask because we genuinely want the truth. Others we ask while hoping the answer will confirm what we already believe.

Imagine sitting in a doctor’s office after a series of tests. There is only one thing you want to hear: “Everything looks good.”

But what if the doctor discovers something serious? Would love hide the results because the truth might frighten you? Of course not. When something is harming us, the most loving thing someone can do is tell us the truth.

Sometimes we imagine a Jesus who comforts, encourages, forgives, and blesses us—but never confronts us. That is not the Jesus we encounter in John 8.

Stay in His Word

Jesus told those who had believed Him:

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
—John 8:31–32

To abide means to remain, continue, or stay.

Stay when His Word comforts you. Stay when it confronts you. Stay when you agree with it—and when it challenges something you have believed for years.

Anybody can follow a Jesus who always agrees with them. Discipleship becomes real when Jesus says something we wish He had not said.

The question is not merely, “Do I believe in Jesus?” It is, “Will I allow Jesus to tell me the truth?”

When Jesus and I disagree, who gets to be wrong?

The Chains We Cannot See

When Jesus promised freedom, the people immediately protested. They did not believe they needed to be freed.

That is the danger of bondage: we do not always recognize it.

Some chains look destructive. Others look respectable. Some are hidden in shame; others are displayed on our résumés. Success, approval, comfort, control, and achievement are not automatically sinful—but anything can become a master.

Sin promises freedom until we try to tell it no.

What do you keep returning to? What can you not refuse? What have you defended for so long that you no longer recognize it as a chain?

Jesus does not expose our chains to humiliate us. He exposes them because He came to break them.

The Son Sets Us Free

In Mark 5, Jesus encountered a tormented man living among the tombs. The man could break the chains people placed around him, but he could not overcome what held him inside.

Then Jesus stepped onto the shore.

With a word, Jesus did what nobody else could do. Soon the man was sitting peacefully at His feet—clothed, restored, and free.

Christianity is not the story of people becoming strong enough to break their own chains. It is the story of Jesus stepping into our sin, shame, and bondage to do what we could never do for ourselves.

Freedom may begin with one honest prayer:

“Jesus, I cannot—but You can.”

When the truth hurts, do not run. Stay in His Word. Stay at His feet. The One revealing the chain is also the One strong enough to break it.

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”