In one of the great movies of all time, Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) said, “The truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts.”
That line from Naked Gun 2.5 still resonates.
Many times, the truth does hurt. When you discovered your dad was hooked on porn, that hurt. When you saw your mother was having an affair, that hurt. When you realized that you were a sex addict, that hurt. Or when you discovered you were married to a sex addict, that really hurt.
But it is only in facing the truth that we find freedom. That was hard for me to understand for the first 50 years of my life. As a man, my instinct was always to paint a good picture even if it wasn’t an accurate picture. But in recovery, I have learned that the ugly truth is always better than a pretty lie.
Jesus can be trusted when he says, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Notice, Jesus didn’t promise, “The comfortable truth will set you free.” Just truth. Any truth. All the time.
Yes, the truth often hurts. But lying is always worse.
Recovery Step: Until you enter into an intimate relationship with the truth, you will never be free. The good news is that you can do that, starting today.
