You just need to live your truth.
How many times have we heard a sentiment like this? It seems like everywhere we turn there is some author or influencer screaming to anyone and everyone who will listen, “Live your truth!”
But what is “your truth,” and where does it lead us? Well, those authors and influencers will tell you that “your truth” can mean anything you want it to. If “your truth” means you feel like the opposite sex or you’re attracted to the same sex, you should pursue that. If “your truth” means you leave your spouse and children for some shiny career, you’d be told to follow your dreams. If “your truth” means wasting all your money on frivolous things and getting so drunk that you can barely stand, you’d hear no arguments from them.
Living “your truth” may feel good and fun in the moment, but it ultimately leaves us anxious, exhausted, and obsessed with ourselves. We need to strive for a better, holier way of living, and Alisa Childers explains how we can do exactly that in her new book, Live Your Truth and Other Lies.
Just like you and me, Alisa has heard it all. You need to live your truth. You are enough. You just need to put yourself first. The phrases sounded good and nice, and when they came from supposedly Christian sources, they seemed to be trustworthy. But there was one problem. They weren’t helpful. At all. In fact, they caused more harm than good. And this all got Alisa thinking—
“What if those little slogans that sound positive and life-affirming are really just lies that will unhinge us from truth, reality, and hope?”[1]
So what did Alisa do when people told her, “You only have one life,” and “God just wants you to be happy”? She turned to the true truth, the only real source of truth we have—the Bible—and she discovered a peace and a freedom that she never could have gained from the pithy sayings and slogans of our culture.
“I think that ditching the jargon and clinging to the timeless truths of the Bible is the most freeing and stabilizing thing we can do. It will ease anxiety, quell depression, and calm a restless heart.”[2]
Alisa encourages her readers to replace the lies of the culture with the truths of Scripture. Instead of believing that “You are the boss of you,” we ought to believe that Jesus is the boss of us and obey His Word. Instead of affirming that “It’s all about love,” we ought to affirm that God defines what love is, which may require us to not accept someone’s certain lifestyle. Instead of declaring that “Girl power is real power,” we ought to declare that both men and women are equally valuable in the sight of God and that both men and women have unique roles to play in society. Believing, affirming, and declaring these things won’t always be easy. In doing so, we will be going against the tide of the culture and going against our own fleshly desires. But it is all a part of denying ourselves and submitting to Christ.
“As Christians, we have to submit our inner lives to the authority of Scripture, and sometimes that requires denying our desires, repenting of our sinful proclivities, and reforming our ideas to align with God’s revealed truth.”[3]
When we deny our desires, when we align our ideas with the Word of God, when we abandon the world’s ideas about what is true and embrace the real Truth, we are finally able to rest, to be at peace, and to keep our eyes focused on God and our neighbors, rather than ourselves. But this is a choice that each of us will have to make in our own lives. Will we listen to the culture and remain concerned with the self? Or will we listen to Christ and become concerned about those around us?
“Sentiments like ‘Live your truth,’ ‘You are enough,’ and ‘You are the boss of you’ all sound nice, but they lead only to self-worship…We all have a choice. We can worship ourselves or deny ourselves. We can choose to follow our hearts or we can choose to follow Christ.”[4]
Live Your Truth and Other Lies was easily one of my favorite reads of the year. I love following Alisa on social media and listening to her podcast, where she equips her audience to understand biblical doctrine and refute false teaching in a kind and respectful manner. I really enjoyed her first book, Another Gospel? (which I’ve reviewed before), and I had no doubt that I would enjoy this one, as well. Alisa covers several important topics in Live Your Truth and Other Lies, and I think every Christian ought to read this book and learn how to debunk these cultural lies with the truth of Scripture. The book is a very easy, relatable read, and it would be a great option for those who are new to the faith or new to apologetics.
If you’re looking for a book to put on your Christmas list or a book to start reading in the new year, I highly suggest picking up a copy of Alisa Childers’s Live Your Truth and Other Lies.
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[1] Alisa Childers, Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed (Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum, 2022), 2
[2] Ibid., 6.
[3] Ibid., 82.
[4] Ibid., 204.
