Portland Center for Spiritual Growth
Truth
Truth is the first of the Three Foundational Principles (Truth, Life, Love) which must be used in conjunction with one another. It covers a vast and extensive amount of territory, and can be examined and applied in many different ways. Knowing in our minds what is true must be accompanied by our words and actions in order for the Power of God to be released into our lives. We tend to disregard the value and power of Truth in favor of a dubious sense of security in the Lie. There is a logical reason for this. Truth is very often risky, and even more often downright uncomfortable. The Lie, however, holds us in such bondage and keeps us from the joy our God would rather we experience, it is worth the risk and discomfort to discover the miracles lying within the activated Truth. Wherever there is a problem in our lives, we will find a lie, but only if we are committed to the Truth. Once the lie is exposed, the Truth takes Power and fixes whatever is broken.
To keep it simple, let’s look at its most obvious forms. Just know that the more you practice and apply Truth to your life, the more types of Truth will become apparent.
HONESTY
George Washington style
I cannot tell a lie.
What this means is that we simply speak the truth no matter what. We practice until we find a way to say the truth with some sense of finesse, but say it we do, even if it doesn’t come out perfectly. It won’t matter as long as we are not using Truth to manipulate or harm intentionally with it. Otherwise, the two other Foundational Principles are missing, and the Truth that we are telling is really a lie. Whenever there is an ulterior motive or hidden agenda, the spoken Truth becomes a lie. So, it is direly important that we first tell ourselves the Truth, and then express it openly to the appropriate avenue of our universe.A quick word to the wise: Confidentiality agreements supercede the telling of truthful information.
Privacy supercedes gossip, even if the gossip is truthful. However, some things we might consider private may be harming us by keeping them secret. Generally speaking, if you are suffering because of a lie or a secret, find an appropriate way to expose the Truth.Cash Register style
I cannot steal.
We take nothing that does not belong to us without paying for it, unless it is given to us willingly. This includes money, items, ideas (unless we give full credit to whoever we got them from), time, talent, and even other people’s friends and lovers. Stealing always leads to stress, pain, and trouble. Here’s a little rhyme you can have for the taking to remind yourself when temptation strikes: If it’s mine I cannot lose it, if it’s not, I cannot use it.
