...of 1 Corinthians 13:11-12

I have played truth or dare a few times in my life. When I was 14, I played with
two of my sisters. At my turn, in fear, I chose dare because the truth always revealed something ugly about me. They dared me to go in the front yard naked! Foolishly, I accepted the challenge and ran out the front door, down the porch and up the sidewalk. I even had the nerve to throw my arms up and spin around! Our neighbor who lived across the street was working in his yard; I noticed him too late. I ran back to the door but Leslie and Natalie had locked the door! They let me back in after about two minutes and were laughing hysterically! I was not at all amused.

After I got dressed, and listened to Leslie and Natalie tell me about my adventure, I began to laugh with them. It seemed funny now that I was dressed and back in the house, but when my parents came home later that evening, our neighbor told them about my showcase. Mommy and daddy were disappointed and embarrassed about the unwise choice I had made. As punishment, I was not allowed to use the telephone or go anywhere over the weekend. If I’d known there were going to be consequences I would have chosen truth.

Between the ages of 15-23, I was involved in another truth or dare. I believed in God, but I did not know God. Because I believed in God, I prayed before each meal, (sometimes; depending on the company I was in at the moment), “God is great God is good, let us thank Him for our food, and bow our heads and now be fed, give us Lord our daily bread, Amen.” If I was not hung-over and came home before sunrise on Sunday morning, I would attend church; well, if I had nothing else better to do of course! During the ages of 24-26, I learned that I had chosen dare, AGAIN! And this time, the consequence could be death, (Romans 6:23).

In the above case, truth or dare was not a game. It was a critical life decision. I learned that Jesus is Truth, (John 14:6), and choosing Truth meant choosing salvation. WOW, no fears in that! Had I given in to fear again, and cowardly chose dare, my conscience towards God would be unclear and I wouldn’t be saved by Jesus’ resurrection, (1 Peter 3:21). I had a choice to make: choose Truth and be born again of imperishable seed, (1 Peter 1:18-23), or choose dare and risk having my name NOT found in the book of life, (Revelation 20:15).

At age 26, I chose Truth! About one year after baptism, I began to experience my fear of being exposed by the truth. However, the Truth was pruning me, (John 14:2), not exposing me! In times of anger, ugly words escaped my mouth because of what I hid in my heart, (Matthew 12:33-37). And those angry words were not helpful to anyone, (Ephesians 4:26-27). Also, because I didn’t fully understand the purpose and benefit of suffering, (James 1:2-5, James 5:7, 1 Peter 1:3-7 and 1 Peter 5:8-11), the quitter in me appeared during trials. My reaction in times of chaos, revealed a lack of self-control and peace. I had chosen the dare in all those situations by doing opposite of what I claimed to live by, (Galatians 5:16-25).

And now at 30 years young, I am still caught up in truth or dare. When I want things my way, I rearrange my priorities. My husband and children are put on hold and worst of all, my worship to God lacks. And I wonder why things are not going as I planned, (James 4:1-4). If a situation is not handled the way I think it should be, I tell God to just let me do it. This attitude exhibits disrespect and no submission to my Maker.

When I seek earthly control, I am disrespectful and not submissive to my husband as I am supposed to be, (Ephesians 5:22-24 & 33). If someone hurts my feelings, I do not unconditionally love or pray for them, (Matthew 5:43-48). Taking these dares clearly expresses my disobedience to God. I have warranted consequences, (Hebrews 2:1-2).

I do not want to continue choosing dare, but at times it just seems easier. I know that it really isn’t. This very struggle is mentioned in Romans 7:14-25. I will just continue to pray that I become dead to self instead of ‘Slowly Dying To Self'.


Written in September of 2008