One of the great things about living in our country is that we have the freedom to make our own choices.  We get to make our own choice of worship, music, food, thoughts and more.

We’ve all heard the expression, “You are what you eat” but I believe we truly become what we choose.    When we choose to put good thoughts words and ideas into our eyes and ears we become even better and vice-versa when we fill our minds with bad thoughts.   Our actions become habits which in turn become our character.

Family picnics will be common on July 4th

So the question of Independence Day is really a gut check.  It is profoundly important that we ask ourselves one big question:  “Who do you choose to listen too?”

For example, whose voice do you hear when you’re right, when you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, yet you have to be the one to apologize?   Do you hear a voice that tells you that you are standing on the truth and righteousness?  Do your thoughts and very demeanor become convicted on the principle of the whole thing, until you ask yourself one question only:   Why should you be the one to apologize when you are right? 

When we listen to this voice, we are listening to the father of lies, whose only interest is in hurting you, your attitude and your relationships.   This lying voice is similar to a great fiction writer who, in the process of crafting a novel, tells the truth over and over again and then subtly imbeds a lie next to the truth so we don’t see it. 

To use a biblical reference – let’s consider when the snake told Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.  He told her that she would gain knowledge of good and evil – which was the truth.   But we all know that it was not the whole truth.

When we choose to listen to the father of lies, we will hear that it is more important to be right, than to be in right relationships.   The voice tells you to stand firm, because you are right.   Unfortunately, the liar never tells you that your relationships will be broken and over time you won’t even remember why or what you fought over. 

It is interesting to note that this liar usually adds a clever twist of deception by making us believe that we are fighting over who is right.   That’s because the real question, the real thing we usually fight over is not about who is right, but instead we fight about who is not wrong.  

We focus on not being wrong.   Instead of our conversations moving toward a solution that would involve higher and better thinking, we defend ourselves.   We become defensive, raise our voices, and shout at least in our own minds, “I didn’t do anything wrong!”   To use a sports analogy, we become so entrenched defensively that we could not possibly score a goal, so the game becomes unwinnable.

The other voice we can listen to is the voice of the Father of love.  It is a gentle voice that says, “I want to love you and see the best in you.”  It is a voice that encourages us to say, “I want to have a good relationship with you.” 

This voice says that you – and I – are both made in God’s image.   This voice says that we are created, not just good, but very good.   God’s voice says, “Before you were born, you were set apart.” 

When we hear God’s voice, we know that you and I are both one-of-a-kind originals.  As such, we are both incredibly valuable.  We were created by the greatest artist of all time, and like an original painting from a great master, you and I are both priceless.   God’s voice tells us that we are each a masterpiece.   We are a piece of the master.

Try this experiment to see the truth behind God’s voice of love:  Hold out your hand and look at your thumbs.  Then wrap your thoughts around the fact that you are the ONLY ONE in all of history and the ONLY ONE out of six billion people alive today who has ever had your thumbprint.  Even if you were an identical twin with the same DNA, you would have different thumbprints.

We would say that you are Thumbuddy.   You are Thumbuddy special and so am I.

I wrote this article because the liar’s voice, the enemy, is hard at work especially in our families.   We have to recognize this liar’s voice in order to stop it.  It is the same way that the FBI and police spend millions of dollars and countless hours studying the criminal mind in order to thwart their efforts.

Every single day the liar’s voice tells little children terrible lies.   When children make a mistake they are told that they are a mistake.  Peer pressure tells them that they are not Thumbuddy who stands out like their thumb, but rather, they stick out like a sore thumb. 

The liar’s voice tells children that they are just a finger, a part of the crowd, a drone.   This master liar pressures kids to conform to be invisible like nobody, to blend in like anybody, to be just like everybody, or to be anonymous like somebody.   This master liar tells people to know your rights and to stand on righteousness and defend yourself, because that’s what the rest of the world does.   The end result is broken relationships, loneliness, anger, drugs, sex and violence.  

It is the opposite of being outstanding and set apart as Thumbuddy.   It is the opposite of recognizing and loving the other person as Thumbuddy who is also special and precious, a miracle who is made in God’s image.

Can you imagine the wasted time of driving your car 100 miles in the wrong direction?   This message is urgent because kids grow so fast and families have so little time to get it right.   And today’s message is not about who is right, but about right relationships.

When we listen to God’s voice of love, it helps us to be our very best.  It also helps us to see the very best in others.  After all, I am a masterpiece and so are you.

We are all at a point of decision.  We have to decide whose voice we are going to listen too.   There is absolutely no time to waste.