We all want the success and progress of the upcoming generations. Every generation has a legacy and principle to pass on to the succeeding people who are our children in schools and youth in colleges today. The welfare of the next people is the heartbeat of the parents, leaders of social and human institutions, teachers, spiritual preachers, and lead-people of every profession. The kind of the foundation for a generation is crucially important because it is a matter of decency or anarchy of humanity along the way of human journey.
The need of our society today is a strong moral principle that must govern our social systems individually and collectively. And this principle originates from the source of our Creator who loves us with His principle of truth. The fate and condition of the next era begins now at the threshold of how we lay a stable foundation for the new generation to escalate their ladder of aspiration. What we are doing and imparting today is the foundation of the next batch of people. The Bible reminds us that ‘a man shall reap what he sows’ (Galatians 6:7). The upcoming people shall inherit what the present age is establishing. It means ‘the quality, legacy, human value, morality and truth the following generations will continue from the passing generation’.
The kind of Foundation
Let us guess one that can be the foundation of our younger people, posterity and even souls yet to be born. Can we think of threat at gunpoint, transitory influence of money, dreaming theory of political ideologies, invention of science and technology, religious fanaticism and mysticism, and blaming game? Any foundation without the principle of moral truth will erode and sink as the Lord Jesus warned us (Matthew 7:24, 25). But the truth will set us free (John 8:32, 36) from slavery and distortion of fraud and deception. The truth is the truth without lying. Let the world rotate on the orbit of truth.
Nothing is truer than our connection and relationship with one who created us. The prophet Jeremiah said that ‘God knew us even before we are born (Jeremiah 1:5), as clay in the hand of the potter, we are in the hand of God (1:6), and that He has the layout of our welfare and master-plan of our lives (Jer 29:11). With God, life visions are achievable and possible (Matthew 6:33; John 15:5). The need of the generation now and hereafter is the practice of truth that unites people to produce wholesomeness of peace and success, and integrity.
Characteristics of Truth
Truth means mathematically 10=10, not less, not more. God created us to operate our lives and human world with the law of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ which is truth. It means accuracy and not a fraud or hypothesis. Truth can be neither killed nor destroyed. Truth cannot be either hidden or intimidated. Truth will germinate and resurrect like the Sun appearing next morning. Truth begets fidelity and integrity. It is evidenced by a life of transcending value of honesty, faithfulness, and loyalty, sense of responsibility, dependability, compassion, and trustworthiness. False cannot manipulate truth as light is different from darkness. The best weapon of nation is the practice of truth.
Beauty of Truth
Truth is the character of God. Truth of God’s creation cannot be averted with hypothetic theory such as big bang, evolution, relativism, and speculative myth and guessed legends. The Bible tells us that God created universe and humans. Sin or disobedience causes wickedness that corrupts the truth. Human history proves that truth is the key that operated human existence and affairs. For example, wickedness brought universal flood and fire upon Sodom and Gomorra. Imagine how the condition of our world would have been without the principle of truth and honesty! But how beautiful our world can be with practice of telling and doing truth, and upholding morality and godliness! It is the key to reconciliation, peace and harmony. It is beautiful because it fights off fraud and lies. Truth has no fear. It has no enemy. It is the centrality of trustworthiness.
Reflection of Truth
Truth is the fundamental foundation of our society which must begin at homes, schools, social and governing systems. Truth is evidenced by the thought of one heart, words of one mouth and action of the same person authenticated by a busy hand. The future of our generation all depends upon what example we show today in their belief system, learning process and practical direction they must head toward. They are the people who will continue to procreate families and operate society, run governments and churches, and manage human affairs. A strong foundation of truth will last endlessly with fruits of quality.
Building of the Foundation
Practice of Truth should be the principle of the aspiring and promising teeming children and youth today that will bring secured and stable succeeding generations. The truth is the reflection of our relationship with the Creator that generates the practice of honesty, habit of hard-work, thriving self-reliance and self-employment with global scope, peace loving, and promoting social integrity and civic maturity. These fundamental qualities must be imparted by families, from schools, and society in impacting and teaching process.
Laying the foundation for the forthcoming generation, the basic and underlying principle will be Knowing the Creator of our lives (Ecclesiastes 12:1), Teaching and training our children when they are young and teachable (Proverbs 22:6), and Doing good work to evidence the precept of God (Matthew 5:16). It is a timely collective responsibility. It is in your court.
History proves that strong nations are those that established and laid their foundation on the principle of truth. On the other hand, nations that experimented speculative philosophies and doctrines faced foundational and generational loss and disasters. The Israel history reveals that internal wars, division, brevity of the kings, and national captivity were the result of their disobedience to God. The Bible reminds us of God’s pleasure assuring, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance” (Psalms 33:12; 144:15).
It is high time for a land and a nation like Nagaland with Bible believers in majority and Christians in leadership to concretize and prioritize the foundation and vision of the succeeding generation on Truth.
God bless one and all!
Rev. Dr. Phuveyi Dozo
