TRUTH

We've all been caught in the big lie. It started at or before age 4 when we put our hand in the chocolate chip cookie jar when mom wasn't looking and had that nice smear of warm chocolate chip on our cheek when she asked us if we had snuck a cookie.

'Ummm ... no, Mommy. Why?'

That temptation to avoid the truth doesn't abate as we grow. Ask a teenager. Opportunities are endless. Homework, friends, dating, Facebook pages, money, drinking, sex. You could add more subjects to the list. The challenge remains: Should I lie to my parents?

Fast forward. You're an adult now. But we've conquered that now, right? Well -- not exactly.

We live in a world that provides little support for truthfulness. We're told by everyone that we shouldn't tell fibs and yet our world, in countless ways, seems to commend deception.

'Just slip that extra receipt in with your legit business expenses. You know they'll never notice.'

'Don't tell your husband what you spent on that dress. He won't find out.'

'Surrounded by so many versions of truth, we can't help but revise our own concept of it.'

We must be a community that encourages truth - models truth - and helps one another clarify what it means to speak truth in love.

And be blessed.