How do you know?

How do you recognize what is True vs. what is false?

1. Do you primarily rely on your emotions and feelings?

Meaning: if you feel bad about something in any way, do you “know” it’s false or bad—and if you feel good about something in any way, do you “know” it’s True and Good?

2. Do you believe that if a belief, thought, or statement feels True in the moment, then it is True—and if it feels false, then it is false?

3. Do you rely only on your “God given intellect”?

4. Do you decide that if a thought seems True to your reasoning, it therefore is the Truth—and if it seems false, it has to be false?

5. Do you rely solely on your “conscience” to decide what is True or false?

If we do any one of these—or any combination of them—we unknowingly make ourselves the final authority on Truth rather than God. When we do this, we act as if we are God.

This leads us to believe that we are always right about everything we do or don’t: think, believe, feel, expect, like, or want/desire—and that anyone who disagrees with us has to be wrong. These are the sins of pride, stubbornness, foolishness, and self-righteousness—the illusion that we “know it all” or “know enough.”

The result? We become unwilling to listen to anyone who disagrees with us. We close ourselves off from learning any Truth from others. In doing so, we remain ignorant—knowing little Moral Truth compared to those who are humble and teachable, and knowing far less than the vast number of Moral Truths that actually exist.

What Happens When We Are Ignorant of Moral Truth?

When we do not actively check directly with Jesus Christ if what we feel, think, believe, expect, like, dislike, want/desire, and are attracted to is right or wrong, we will fail to know sufficient Moral Truth.

If we also fail to consult the official teachings and doctrines of Jesus Christ's divinely appointed Church—proven by history—and we fail to learn from the writings of His holy saints, we will fail to know sufficient Moral Truth. 

Both are necessary in order to listen to God. Both are necessary in order to discern rightly. Both are necessary in order to know how to recognize Moral Truth.

When we fail to know or accept a moral Truth, we end up causing ourselves harmful emotional suffering.

When we are ignorant of Moral Truth, we will inevitably choose to prioritize some thing(s) or someone in place of a true friendship with God—some vice, addiction, entertainment distraction, or false comfort. These become our substitute “gods,” used in attempts to escape or numb our suffering. Yet, in reality, they only deepen our unhappiness.

Acting as Our Own Authority

We act as our own final authority on Truth and falsehood when we:

• Fail to ask Jesus Christ directly,
• Fail to listen for His answer(s), 
• Fail to be open to receiving those answers through any way God chooses, and
• Fail to discern with Jesus whether what we “hear” is from ourselves, from an evil spirit, or truly from God.

Authentic discernment means:

• Always asking Jesus for His opinion,
• Being open to the possibility that we are wrong,
• Seeking to understand how and why we might be wrong, and
• Remaining open to learning Truth through others—even those we might not expect Him to use.

Finally, we act like our own final authority on Truth and falsehood when we refuse to believe that Jesus established a final, visible Church authority through which He continues to teach us moral Truth and the Truth about Himself—especially through the writings of those whom the Church declares to most exemplify God's Truth, Love, and Virtues.

Our Responsibility

It is each person’s responsibility to ask Jesus daily for help to recognize and accept His Truth, hear Him clearly, and to lead us to those, either one-on-one or through their writings, who can best help us discern Truth from falsehood.

When we insist on being our own final authority:

• We cannot recognize or accept many moral Truths.
• We cannot fully know who God is.
• We cannot have a true friendship with Jesus Christ.
• We cannot recognize or repent of most of our sins.
• We cannot be morally right very often.
• And we cannot be as genuinely loving as we imagine ourselves to be.