Key Bible Verse: Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies (Romans 1:25, NIV).

Bonus Reading: Philippians 4:8–9

At the heart of the movie Secondhand Lions is a scene that teaches an idea about beliefs and truth that sounds good but is a far cry from what the Bible teaches about faith. Walter (Haley Joel Osment) lives with his mother, a selfish woman who chases after men, often to the neglect of her young teenage son. But when she decides to move to Las Vegas, she leaves Walter in Texas with two distant relatives, Uncle Garth (Michael Caine) and Uncle Hub (Robert Duvall).

While there, Uncle Garth tells Walter an epic story of how Uncle Hub spent 40 years in the glamorous French Foreign Legion, sword fighting with sheiks in Africa and loving a princess named Jasmine.

One night, out by his uncle's pond, Walter confronts Uncle Hub. "Those stories about Africa," Walter asks, "about you—they're true, aren't they?"

"Doesn't matter," Uncle Hub answers.

"It does too. Around my mom, all I hear is lies. I don't know what to believe in."

"If you want to believe in something," says Uncle Hub, "then believe in it. Just because something isn't true, that's no reason you can't believe in it."

Walter stares at him, confused. Uncle Hub continues, "There's a long speech I give young men; sounds like you need to hear a piece of it … just a piece. Sometimes, things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most—that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and (I want you to remember this) that love … true love never dies. You remember that, Boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if they're true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things … because those are the things worth believing in. Got that?"

The lies that Satan whispers to us are subtle. He can make something false sound perfectly credible, and he mixes truth with lies to be convincing.

Uncle Hub wraps grains of truth in a cloak of a lie. As Christians we believe in honor, courage, and virtue. We believe that money and power are worthless, and that good will ultimately triumph over evil. We also know that true love, God's kind of love, never dies. But all these truths are wrapped in the overarching falsehood that it doesn't matter whether something is true or not.

Our society is obsessed with the idea that if a person believes something sincerely, then that is all that matters. However, someone can be sincerely wrong. Mankind once sincerely believed that the earth was flat. It didn't matter how passionately they believed it, it was still a lie.

Knowing the earth is round is important to us, because it expands our knowledge of our world. How much more important it is that we know the truth about God. Not only our lives, but our eternal destiny depends on it.

So, how can we know the truth about God? Only through the Bible. If we listen to our society, we will end up believing lies. Only as we see God as he has revealed himself to us through his Word can we truly understand him.

The next time you hear someone talk about God, whether it is a close friend, a movie character, or someone in the media, take time to read your Bible to find out if what they are saying is true.

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