"I Follow My Own Truth"

The Mantra of Our Age

"That may be true for you, but it's not true for me." "I follow my own truth." "Who are you to tell me what's right?" "Live your truth." These phrases have become the mantras of contemporary spirituality. The idea that truth is subjective—that each person creates or discovers their own truth—is perhaps the defining assumption of New Age thought and, increasingly, of mainstream Western culture.

For many New Age practitioners, this isn't just a philosophical position; it's a deeply held conviction tied to their sense of identity, autonomy, and spiritual freedom. Challenging it can feel like a personal attack. Yet the Christian claim—that truth is objective, that God has revealed Himself definitively in Christ, that some beliefs are simply false—stands in direct contradiction to subjective spirituality.

This lesson examines the claim to subjective truth, exposes its internal contradictions, and equips you to gently help people see that objective truth is not a threat to freedom but the foundation of it.

What People Mean by "My Truth"

When someone says "I follow my own truth," they might mean several different things:

1. Personal Experience and Perspective

Sometimes "my truth" simply means "my experience" or "my perspective." When someone says, "My truth is that I was hurt by the church," they're sharing their genuine experience. This use of "truth" is really about authenticity and personal narrative, not metaphysics.

This meaning is largely unobjectionable. People's experiences are real, and sharing them authentically is valuable. The problem comes when personal experience is elevated to the status of objective truth.

2. Moral Relativism

Often "my truth" expresses moral relativism— the belief that moral standards are individually or culturally determined, not universal. What's right for you may not be right for me. No one can impose their moral standards on others.

3. Spiritual Relativism

In New Age contexts, "my truth" typically means spiritual relativism—the belief that spiritual realities are individually determined. All spiritual paths are equally valid. You create your own spiritual reality through your beliefs. There is no objective spiritual truth that applies to everyone.

4. Epistemological Relativism

At its most extreme, "my truth" expresses epistemological relativism—the belief that truth itself is subjective. There are no objective facts, only interpretations. What's true is whatever you believe to be true.

Problems with Subjective Truth

1. It's Self-Refuting

The claim "There is no objective truth" is itself a claim to objective truth. It asserts something that is supposed to be true for everyone, not just the speaker. If it's only true "for them," then it poses no challenge to those who believe in objective truth—they can simply say, "Well, objective truth is true for me."

Similarly, "You shouldn't impose your truth on others" is itself an imposition—a moral claim presented as binding on others. The relativist cannot escape making absolute claims.

2. No One Actually Lives This Way

People who claim truth is subjective don't actually believe it when it matters. They don't think it's "true for them" that their bank account has a million dollars while being "true for the bank" that it has ten dollars. They don't think the drunk driver who says "I'm not impaired" has created a valid personal truth. They don't think the person who believes racial supremacy is "following their own truth."

Everyone believes in objective truth about matters they care about. Relativism tends to be selectively applied to religious and moral claims—precisely the areas where people want to avoid accountability.

3. It Makes Meaningful Dialogue Impossible

If truth is purely subjective, there's no point in discussion. We're not seeking truth together; we're just sharing preferences. I like chocolate; you like vanilla. I believe in Jesus; you believe in crystals. There's nothing to discuss, no way to learn from each other, no possibility of one of us being right or wrong.

But people don't actually treat spiritual discussions this way. They argue, they present evidence, they try to persuade. This behavior only makes sense if truth is objective and discoverable.

4. It Undermines Human Dignity and Justice

If truth is subjective, so are moral truths. But this means there's no objective basis for human rights, justice, or moral progress. The slaveholder's "truth" that some humans are property is as valid as the abolitionist's "truth" that all humans have dignity. The oppressor's "truth" is as valid as the victim's.

Every appeal to justice assumes objective moral truth. "That's wrong" means more than "I personally dislike it."

5. It Trivializes Spiritual Reality

If spiritual truth is whatever you want it to be, then spiritual reality has no more substance than a preference for ice cream flavors. But people pursuing spirituality typically believe they're seeking something real—genuine connection with the divine, actual spiritual growth, true enlightenment. Subjective truth reduces this pursuit to self-indulgent fantasy.

Why People Embrace Subjective Truth

Understanding why people hold this view helps us respond with empathy:

Reaction Against Authoritarian Religion

Many have been hurt by religious authorities who claimed to have "the truth" and used it to control, manipulate, or shame. Subjective truth feels like freedom from that abuse. The problem isn't objective truth itself but the misuse of truth claims for control.

Cultural Conditioning

Western culture has been marinating in relativism for decades. It's absorbed through education, media, and social norms. Many people have simply adopted the assumptions of their environment without examining them.

Tolerance and Humility

Believing in subjective truth can feel humble and tolerant: "Who am I to say what's true for someone else?" People want to be respectful of others' beliefs. What they don't realize is that genuine respect requires taking others' beliefs seriously—which means acknowledging that beliefs can be true or false.

Avoidance of Accountability

If there's no objective truth, there's no one to be accountable to. If I create my own truth, I can't be wrong. If there's no objective moral standard, I can't be guilty. Subjective truth is a comfortable escape from judgment—including, ultimately, God's judgment.

The Pain of Uncertainty

Claiming subjective truth can be a way of coping with the difficulty of knowing what's true. If truth is objective, we might be wrong about important things. That's scary. Subjectivism relieves that anxiety by eliminating the category of error.

How to Respond

1. Use Questions, Not Lectures

Rather than arguing against relativism, ask questions that help people see its problems for themselves:

• "Is that statement true just for you, or is it true for everyone?"
• "If truth is subjective, how can we ever say anything is wrong? Is racism just 'true for' racists?"
• "If spiritual truth is different for everyone, are we actually pursuing something real, or just making things up?"
• "What would change your mind about this? Or is your view unfalsifiable?"
• "When you say 'my truth,' do you mean your personal experience, or that reality itself is different for different people?"

2. Find the Inconsistency

Look for places where the person actually does believe in objective truth:

• Do they believe science discovers objective facts about reality?
• Do they believe some things are genuinely wrong (injustice, cruelty, environmental destruction)?
• Do they get upset when someone lies to them or treats them unfairly?
• Do they believe their spiritual experiences connect them with something real, not just imagination?

When you find these areas, gently point out the inconsistency: "So you do believe in objective truth in that area. Why would spiritual truth be different?"

3. Distinguish Truth from Certainty

People sometimes confuse "truth is objective" with "I know the truth perfectly." But these are different claims. Truth can be objective even if our grasp of it is partial. Humility about our own knowledge doesn't require denying that there's truth to be known.

"I'm not saying I have perfect knowledge of everything. I'm saying there are real answers to spiritual questions—answers that are true whether or not I've found them. And I believe Jesus reveals those answers."

4. Reframe Truth as Loving, Not Controlling

For those who associate objective truth with authoritarian control, reframe it:

"If someone you love has a serious illness, would you want them to know the truth about their condition, or would you let them believe whatever feels good? Truth isn't about control—it's about reality. And knowing reality is the only way to navigate life well. Spiritual truth is the same. If there's a God who made us and loves us, wouldn't you want to know the truth about Him?"

5. Point to Jesus

Jesus made astonishing truth claims:

Jesus didn't say "I have a truth" or "I'll help you find your truth." He said "I am the truth." This claim demands a response. Either He was deluded, deceitful, or telling the truth. If He's the truth, then truth is not subjective—it's a Person to be known and followed.

The Freedom of Truth

Subjective truth promises freedom but delivers isolation. If everyone has their own truth, we're each trapped in our private universe, unable to connect with reality or with each other.

Jesus offers a different vision:

Truth brings freedom—freedom from illusion, from self-deception, from the prison of our own limited perspectives. The truth about God, about ourselves, about salvation isn't a cage but an open door.

Help your friends see that seeking objective truth isn't arrogance—it's humility. It acknowledges that reality doesn't bend to our preferences. It admits that we might be wrong and need to learn. It opens us to discovery rather than trapping us in our assumptions.

Conclusion: The Truth Who Is a Person

The deepest response to "I follow my own truth" is not philosophical argument but personal invitation. Christianity doesn't merely claim that truth exists; it claims that truth is a Person—Jesus Christ, who reveals the Father, who embodies reality, who offers Himself to be known.

"Following your own truth" leads in circles—you end where you started, with yourself. Following Jesus leads somewhere—into relationship with the living God, into transformation, into life.

Pilate asked the right question but walked away before hearing the answer. The answer was standing right in front of him. May we help our friends not make the same mistake—to see that Truth is not a concept to be debated but a Person to be encountered.