Truth vs Lies: Which Shapes Us More

Honestly, I think both truth and lies shape us, but in very different ways and the impact of each depends on the season of life we’re in and how deeply we let them root in our minds.

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Truth has a way of grounding you even when it feels heavy to accept. It often forces you to see what you’d rather ignore, but once you embrace it, it becomes a guiding light. I learned this in a hard but necessary way when I realized that not everyone who smiles at you truly wishes you well. For years, I equated kindness with genuine intention not knowing it could also be otherwise until experience proved me wrong. That realization reshaped how I approached friendships, partnerships, and relationships generally. It didn’t turn me bitter, but it sharpened my discernment. I started paying closer attention to consistency between people’s words and actions. This awareness became a shield, helping me set healthy boundaries, it proved value during my secondary school boarding house days, where trust was often tested.

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But lies… lies are different,lies mold you in silence, without you realizing it. They can become the very lens you see life through, and because they’re not grounded in reality, they distort everything else in your life. A lie you believe about yourself can cripple you for years. I’ve seen people spend decades believing they’re not enough, not because it was ever true, but because someone, probably a parent, a teacher, a partner or a friend said it once in a moment of anger, and it stuck. And that single false seed grew into self sabotage, missed opportunities, unhealthy relationships, and a constant feeling of being undeserving.

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Truths and lies are equally easy to believe on the surface they are identical in structure. Consider two simple statements for instance ; “Betty P. likes milky cakes” and “Betty P. likes chocolate cakes.” One is true, one is false, but without knowing Betty, both statements feel equally believable. The deciding factor isn’t the inherent truthfulness of the words, but how they connect to our biases, expectations, knowledge, discernment, emotions, and evidence. If you already imagine Betty as someone who likes milky flavors, you’ll lean toward the milky cake but If you’ve seen her choose something sweet before, you might assume chocolates. That’s how it works in life too, what we’re predisposed to expect often shapes what we believe, regardless of whether it’s real.

And this is where lies become particularly dangerous. They tend to align with what we want to hear, what’s easier to accept, or what strokes our emotions. They often require less effort to process than the truth, and they sometimes fit neatly into our expectations we already have. People like to feel good, so if you tell them something that flatters them and soothes their discomfort, they’re more likely to embrace it without question. Truth, on the other hand, is dispassionate, It doesn’t bend to please us; it simply is real whether we like it or not, it comes unadorned, unmanipulated, and often inconvenient.

Sometimes people believe a lie because the truth is too uncomfortable, too confronting. So,rather than face it head on, they prefer to avoid it but the tragedy is that this avoidance denies them the opportunity to live a full life in all it’s meant to be. The Bible says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy and lies are one of his sharpest tools. They steal hope, kill potential, and destroy purpose but Christ says He has come to give life, and life in abundance. He is the way, the truth, and the life and when you have a relationship with Him, you gain access to the kind of truth that frees you, not just intellectually, but spiritually and emotionally.

In history, you see the power of lies everywhere, propaganda convincing nations to commit atrocities, false narratives justifying oppression, and personal deceit tearing apart relationships. But at same time you also see the quiet, relentless force of truth. It can be buried, suppressed, or ignored, but it has a way of resurfacing.
Truth can change you in an instant if you’re ready for it, while lies change you slowly, like erosion. And here’s the thing,a truth you face can undo a lie you’ve believed, but it usually takes courage to confront it.

So my perspective is this; the truth you face builds you, but the lies you believe shape you in ways you don’t notice until you’re either broken enough to seek help or awake enough to question them. Lies will try to make you comfortable while keeping you stuck; truth will make you uncomfortable but set you free. And when you finally choose truth especially the Truth that comes from God, that’s when life really begins.

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