Truth Offends | Restoring Warriors Daily Devotional | Matthew 26:65

Why does the truth of Jesus often feel offensive to our modern world? In today’s devotional, we explore the encounter between Caiaphas and Jesus in Matthew 26:65 to understand why truth can be difficult to accept and how we can cultivate a heart that is submissive to God's Word.

In this video:

The Reality of Offense: Why Caiaphas rejected Jesus and how that mirrors today's resistance to the Gospel.
Truth vs. Culture: Why exclusive claims of Scripture are often labeled intolerant, and why the truth doesn't change just because it's unpopular.
The Test of Discipleship: Moving beyond only agreeing with the parts of the Bible we like to truly submitting to the parts that challenge us.
Reflection & Challenge:

"What truth from God’s Word am I tempted to resist because it challenges the way I want to live?"

Identify one area where God’s Word conflicts with your current beliefs, habits, or attitudes, and choose to surrender that area to Him today.

Transcript

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They confronted his beliefs and it challenged his authority. On top of that, welcome back to the Restoring Warriors Daily Devotional, where every day we challenge men to boldly step into the calling that God's placed on their life. All right, we're gonna dive back into the book of Matthew. We're in chapter 26 today. But before we do, I want to direct you over to our website, RestoringWarriors.com. We're a men's ministry, and we equip men to lead their families unapologetically through Jesus Christ. All right, and right now we're launching our powerful online community. So go to restoringwarriors.com, click on join a group, and we'll direct you to our online school community where you can hang out with the other guys. All right, we can't wait to see you over there. All right, Matthew 26, this is verse 65. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, He has spoken blasphemy. Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. Man, so Caiaphas here, he believed that he was defending God, but in reality, he was rejecting God. Man, and Jesus, he had just declared the truth about who he was. He the Son of God, he's the coming king, the Messiah. And instead of humbly considering his words, the high priest, he became offended. He became offended. The truth that confronted his beliefs and it challenged his authority on top of that. And it demanded a response. And rather than surrender, he decided that he would call truth blasphemy. And not much has changed today. Take a look outside. Today, many people they're not offended by the idea of spirituality, they're offended by the exclusive claims of Jesus and the authority of God's word. All right, when Scripture calls sin what it is, the world pushes back. And it pushes back hard. God's design for marriage, for instance, the sanctity of life, sexual purity, repentance, and surrender are often labeled as hateful, outdated, intolerant. The issue isn't that God's truth has changed, it's that truth often confronts what people want to believe. Their own truth, right? My truth, their truth. As followers of Christ, we have to be really careful that we don't judge culture without first examining ourselves. All right. Are there areas where we, just like Caiaphas, resist God's truth because it challenges our comfort, it challenges our desires, or it challenges our worldview. All right, the tested discipleship isn't whether we agree with the parts of Scripture that we like, it's whether we submit to the parts that actually challenge us. Truth doesn't become false just because it's unpopular. And God's word doesn't lose its authority simply because culture rejects it. All right, pull out your journal now. We're gonna take five or ten minutes. I want you to journal up, just pray, pray to the Lord, invite the Holy Spirit in, and see what convicts you here as I ask you this question. Right? What truth from God's word am I tempted to resist because it challenges the way that I want to live my life? Right? And your daily challenge today, identify one area where God's word conflicts with a belief, with a habit, or an attitude in your life, and surrender that area to Him today and choose obedience over your own personal comfort. Okay, let's pray. Father, Father, protect me from a hardened heart. Help me to love your truth even when it convicts me. Lord, give me the humility to submit to your word rather than conform to the world. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, thank you for tuning in today. If you were encouraged by this devotional, I encourage you to send it off to a friend. Make sure you like, make sure you subscribe, leave a comment, we'll reply back. All that helps us in the algorithms. It helps us spread the gospel of Jesus to more and more people. It's an absolute joy to do this devotional with you every day. Can't wait to see you on the next one.