truth compass

LOVE VS TRUTH: How the truth shall make you free

Last updated: January 26th, 2019

“What the world needs now, is love sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” These words from a song popularized by Jackie DeShannon in 1965 and subsequently recorded by many well-known vocalists, are still repeated by those wishing for a better world than the conflict-filled and corruption-ridden world we presently live in. If there was just more love, wars would come to an end, crime rates would go down, poverty would decrease and virtually all of humankind’s problems would begin to be solved.

At the risk of offending all such idealists I would offer a resounding NO to this notion. No, what the world needs now is not love, sweet love. What it needs is truth, sharp truth, or we could say the truth of love. Granted, love is what makes the world go ‘round. I believe this was first affirmed by Aristotle. Love is the elemental force that drives all creation, not only on Earth but throughout the whole universe. Every living thing is powered by love: plants, trees, insects, animals and human beings. In view of this, there is plenty of love on Earth, and when it comes to human beings, since there are more of us on Earth than ever in recorded history, there is more love moving through human beings than ever before.

So obviously the problem is not a lack of love. Everything anyone does is initiated and carried out by love; otherwise there would be no power to do it. Bank robbers are motivated by love, probably the love of money and what it can bring. Terrorists, including those who perpetrated the 9/11 atrocity, are motivated by love, love for an organization or some kind of cause. On July 20 of this year a man walked into a theatre in Aurora, Colorado, and gunned down twelve people and injured scores more. Yes, even suspect James Holmes was acting out of love. You might say that he was motivated by hate. Probably true, but hate is not the absence of love, it is the distortion and misuse of love.

Seeing that there is no lack of love on Earth—indeed, there is a surplus—what is the problem? The problem is a deficiency of truth. In the measure that love is not released in accordance with the design and control of truth, it is destructive. And human beings have very little understanding of what the authentic design and control of truth is. Instead, exercising their “brilliant” intellects, they have made all kinds of guesses, and most of these guesses are way off the mark. Hence we have the world that we have, filled with corruption, violence and lies.

Love is the power of fusion; it is the nature of love to bring things together, to bind. Acting from love, human beings bind themselves to all kinds of things:  countries, cultures, causes, traditions, religious beliefs, scientific theories, creature comforts of all kinds, relationships and of course food, sex, alcohol and an assortment of illicit drugs. Each and every one of these beliefs and behaviours obstruct the truth of love and actually prevent it from being expressed and known. Yet people become so fastened to their beliefs that some are even willing to kill for them.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This statement was made by a man who could speak with authority on the subject because he had personally experienced the truth of himself in his own living. Even though he was in a sense consumed by love he did not say that love would set one free. He knew that love binds, and he sought to convey this in various ways to the Pharisees and the Sadducees who in their passionate love had bound themselves to doctrines and practices quite at variance with the true design of life. He was free in his love because it was given to nothing but the truth.

And what is the truth and how is it found? The truth is found in the design of creation. Human beings were created (or designed) “in the image and likeness of God.” In other words, they are creator-beings and partake of a divine nature. They are human Beings, but insofar as their present function on Earth is concerned, the human part has overridden and all but erased the Being part. They have forgotten the truth of themselves and consequently have used the power of love in all kinds of distorted and destructive ways.

So obviously the great need on Earth now is not for more love. Rather it is for human beings to begin to remember the truth of who they are, their authentic identity. And not to merely mentally remember this truth and form some kind of intellectual concept about it. What is absolutely essential is that this truth be expressed in living. For it is a fundamental principle that “you only know what you express.” To know the truth the truth must be expressed.

The first step in allowing this to happen is to clear out all of the beliefs, cultural and political loyalties, addictions and other structures in consciousness to which one has bound oneself in love. A thorough deprogramming is required so that love may be redirected to the truth. In the measure that love has been given to these structures this cleansing process may occasion some discomfort. But as long as this clutter occupies consciousness there is no room for the truth to come through.

Emptying the mind and heart of this extraneous matter brings one into contact with the core of Being, the very essence of the truth of oneself, the very spirit of the Creator. In union with this essence it becomes natural and easy to express the qualities of the Creator in living. These are the properties or attributes of divine or true character and include such qualities as integrity, nobility, creativity, serenity, generosity, stability, patience, thankfulness, humility, dependability, kindness, transparency, courage, honour and many other beautiful expressions. Every time one of these qualities is given expression in living, an individual confirms his identity with the Creator and the truth of love becomes more clearly known.

So what the world needs now is not love, sweet love, but the sharp sword of truth that cuts all the clutter out of human consciousness, allowing more of the inexhaustible supply of love to be released in divine expression via the qualities of true character. When love is thus liberated from the assortment of beliefs, wants, desires and other structures in which human beings have imprisoned it, the Creator is known again on Earth and a new and glorious world is born.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”


image: truth compass via Shutterstock
  1. Well said Jerry. Truth overrides all. Without it, love is false. And we need truth now more than ever to be able to build a new Earth.

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