What is truth?

I just googled "what is truth?" and a LOT of hits came up. There are entire websites dedicated to the question of what is truth.

Is there such thing as absolute truth? Some argue that there is. Others say that truth is relative.

It got me to thinking... if there is no such thing as absolute truth, then can we really affirm anything? Even the simplest things seem to became relative. "This sweater is blue." Is it really? Would a person who was colorblind agree with that?

If something so simple can be interpreted differently by a different people, what can we do with more complex questions, like the existence of God, what is truth, who is my neighbor, etc.?

Of course, so far I've been speaking in the general Truth with a capital 'T' sense. That Truth matters to our lives in a more cosmic sense, and consequently is much more important. But we usually manage to put that aside and not think of it so much. The one we can't put aside and have to deal with every day, every moment of every day, is the truth with a little 't'. We are constantly interacting with the world around us, and therefore everything that comes out of our mouths, our expressions, our actions, are based in either the truth, or in falsehood. It is also here that the question of "omission" comes into question: if you didn't lie, just didn't say anything, are you still to blame?

I had a professor in college a few years ago who defined my view of truth vs. lies forever. I don't know if he knew he would have that big of an impact on my life, and maybe some of the other students as well, but I have never heard a better definition:

"A lie is everything and anything, even the truth, if said with the intention of deceiving someone." 


We should all be more careful with what comes out of our mouths... 


"Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks."