“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” I John 4:1
V is for validate. To validate means to confirm or make legally valid. In our country’s legal system, all evidence must be validated or proven as truth. How much more important for our lives as Christians to be validated … proven as truth.
My mother-in-law enjoys watching game shows on TV … the old game shows. I do not remember what the name of the one show is, but the key phrase/concept is, “Will the real ____ stand up?” Have you ever seen this before, or am I dating myself because I remember this from my younger years? At the beginning of the show, they share a significant event or trade that a person is in. They then show you a panel of three people who pretend to be that one person. They also have a panel of three other people who try to guess which of those three people is the real person that was described. They do this through asking questions and watching mannerisms or tics to see if they can catch one of them in a lie … with something that does not add up … by the way, I have learned that if something does not add that there is a reason that it does not add up. It is interesting to watch. People can be very convincing in their answers and actions … only to be found that they were false.
Do you and I live our lives this way each day? Do we do and say things that will have others around us draw the improper conclusions? Do they see us in the false light or do they see the true … or the “real” … person that we are?
You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
— Abraham Lincoln
No matter how many times or how many people we fooled into thinking that we are someone or something that we are not, guess what? God ALWAYS knows the true (“real”) you! God will never be fooled!
Just as in the court of law, when the truth comes out, there will be consequences to pay. The Bible so clearly tells us in Galatians 6:7-8 to “Be not deceived [do not be fooled]; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
What are our motives or motivation for what we do? To determine this, our spirits must be tried (put to the test) … whether we live after man and the flesh or after God.
Lesson Objective: To understand what validate means. To learn that even though we can seemingly fool … pull the wool over … other’s eyes, God is never fooled. God sees the real you every single time, my friend!
Did you pass or did you fail?