It is bad enough when we deny the truth in our own lives. But denying the truth leads to an even darker place. It leads to hatred of those who tell the truth. Rather than be chastised and repent, we double down on believing lies and hate those who expose them.

This verse was written during the period of the Kings, over 2500 years ago, and it is as true today as ever. When people deny what is true, it leads to hatred for those willing to speak the truth.

That means there will likely be a price for speaking the truth. Jesus certainly paid a price. His natural allies, the Bible-believing Pharisees, joined forces with the Romans and Sadducees in order to silence His truth-telling. Rather than repent, they hated him to the point of participating in His murder.

As Christians, we are of course called to proclaim the truth, as our Savior proclaimed the truth. We must not allow those who hate us for speaking the truth to keep us from proclaiming it. We are called to be salt and light, and play a visible role in proclaiming truth.

Before we can do that, we have to make sure we are not detesting the truth ourselves. To ensure we have not substituted truth for happy emotion or fulfilled fleshly desires.

To live a life based on truth, we must first have the humility to receive it, to listen to God and learn to tune into his voice. Then we need the courage to proclaim it when the world around us hates us and desires to silence our voice.

We are told we gain great rewards when we suffer the sufferings of Jesus. Many of His sufferings stemmed from His unrelenting commitment to live and speak the truth.

“There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.”
– Amos 5:10