Anthony Pritchard
Active Member
Truth Has Weight, Error Has Only Cost.
Truth has weight because truth has value. Error only has cost because error destroys value. A man learns this not in a moment but over years, sometimes over decades, sometimes through pain. Scripture speaks plainly about this. Proverbs 23 verse 23 says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Truth is something to be purchased. It has a price. It costs something to obtain it and it costs something to keep it.
Truth may cost a man his comfort. It may cost him his reputation. It may cost him friendships. It may cost him the approval of family. It may cost him opportunities. It may cost him wealth. It may cost him the easy path. It may cost him advancement. It may cost him the life he could have had in the flesh. Christ said in Matthew 10 verse 34, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The sword also divides between truth and error. And that division always costs someone something.
Truth may strip a man down. It may expose him. It may humble him. It may force him to admit he was wrong. It may require him to change. It may require him to walk alone. But the cost of truth is light compared to the cost of error. Error subtracts value. Error misleads. Error blinds. Error destroys. Error may offer a temporary advantage, a moment of ease, a season of comfort, but its end is always loss. Proverbs 14 verse 12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Error always seems right at first. It always feels easier. It always promises something. But its end is death.
Truth wounds, but error kills. Truth prunes, but error poisons. Truth may hurt for a moment, but error hurts forever. Christ said in John 8 verse 32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Freedom has a cost. Bondage has a cost. One cost is temporary. The other is eternal.
A man may lose earthly things for the sake of truth. He may lose wealth. He may lose position. He may lose the approval of men. He may lose the comfort of belonging to the crowd. He may lose the life he could have lived if he had chosen the easier road. But error costs far more. Error can cost a man his integrity. It can cost him his peace. It can cost him his spiritual clarity. It can cost him his health. It can cost him his eternal rewards. It can cost him his soul. Christ said in Mark 8 verse 36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.” Error may gain the world for a moment, but it loses the soul forever.
Truth is heavy because it is real. Error is light because it is hollow. Truth adds value because it aligns a man with God. Error subtracts value because it separates a man from God. Truth may cost a man something now, but it pays eternal dividends. Error may pay a man something now, but it costs eternal loss. Paul said in Second Corinthians 4 verse 17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The affliction is light. The glory is weighty. The cost of truth is light. The reward of truth is weighty.
This is why Scripture says to buy the truth and sell it not. Truth is worth whatever it costs. Error is not worth whatever it gives. A man who has lived long enough with God learns this. He learns it through correction. He learns it through humility. He learns it through the pain of being wrong. He learns it through the joy of being set right. He learns it through the long, slow, faithful work of God in his life. And when he learns it, he becomes a man who seeks truth, not because he is wise, but because he has learned the cost of error.
Veritas pretiosior auro - Truth is more precious than gold.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 1979 -
Free to use with proper attribution.