“Do you have poopy in your diaper?” I’d ask my son, Henry.

“Nope! No poopy,” he’d reply.

But, invariably, Henry would fail the sniff test, and in two minutes we’d be at the changing table taking care of business. Even though I knew he didn’t fully understand me, I’d explain, “Henry, you have to tell me the truth.”

Like many a toddler before him, Henry never wanted a diaper change because that would mean he’d have to stop playing. The truth wouldn’t suit him, so he’d tell a lie.

It’s amazing to me how even very small children do this without instruction. Despite being brutally honest at other times, they often choose what they want over honesty when they can’t have both. As a parent, I must show my child the value of truth — but the utility of a lie is somehow built right in to their brains.

But, do I apply the same rules to myself? When the truth conflicts with what I want — or what seems better or more logical or palatable or popular — do I choose honesty?

These are some of the questions I asked myself as I read up on the topic of truth in scripture. (Yes, I’ve got another scripture reading plan for you to download at the bottom of this article!)

These scriptures helped me to re-center my mind on the idea that God is truth — He embodies it — and if I love God, then I must love His truth as well. If I profess to follow Christ, then I have to embrace His words and life example as nothing less than total truth.

But, how easy is it to lose my way? Truth has kind of a bad rap these days. Have you ever heard one of the following?

• There is no absolute truth. (That, my friends, is an absolute statement.)
• I have “my” truth. (But what if it conflicts with “my” truth? Which is true?)
• Ignorance is bliss. (Until it’s not.)
• It’s just a little white lie. (Until it requires a cover-up lie, and then another…)

The scriptures in this reading plan helped revive in me the importance of living a life of integrity — doing what I say I’ll do, refusing to equivocate, and majoring in life’s most important subjects rather than the trivial things.

These scriptures encouraged me to walk in truth (however hard) and not falsehood or deceit (however easy). They also reminded me that when someone is fully converted to Christ, that conversion is powerful, so the more convicted I am and the more connected I am to Jesus, the less likely I am to stray from the beautiful truth I’ve found.

Are you ready to read about truth, too?

Download the Truth Scripture Reading Plan Here

This one is divided into 20 days, but you can read it at whatever pace suits you, of course. You’ll see some optional reflection questions that I used in my own study and that you’re welcome to consider as well. May God bless you as you explore what His Word has to say about truth.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.