Stand or Fall
Insights From Vacation Bible School
Standing on Truth, Not Just Being Right
The Cookie Line Clash
It happened right before snack time — which, as every VBS kid knows, is sacred.
Emily had stepped out of line for a second to help Ryan pick up his dropped ball cap. When she returned, Bubba pushed her out of the way and barked, “Too bad! You snooze, you lose!”
Emily’s lip trembled. “That’s not fair!”
Bubba crossed his arms and said proudly, “My daddy told me, ‘If you don’t stand up for yourself, you’ll fall for anything.’”
Ryan stepped forward — small but fearless — and said quietly, “Yeah, but my mom says if you don’t stand for the truth, you’ve already fallen.”
That stopped us all.
Short of the Truth
I’ve always liked clever sayings. I used to collect them, repeat them, even build a little philosophy around them.
But some of those sayings sound wise until you hold them up to the light of Scripture.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything” sounds right—until you realize that “something” isn’t always truth.
We can stand passionately for pride, fear, ideology, or self-preservation.
And in doing so, we’ve already fallen.
Jesus didn’t say, “Stand up for yourself.”
He said, “Deny yourself.”
He didn’t say, “Protect your rights.”
He said, “Love your enemies.”
It’s not that standing is wrong—it’s what we’re standing on that matters.
The Ground That Holds
Truth isn’t an opinion to defend; it’s a Person to follow.
And the ground beneath His feet never shifts.
The Gospel always flips our slogans:
The first shall be last.
Losing is winning.
Dying is living.
Surrender is victory.
To stand in truth means kneeling first.
It means letting God’s Spirit reveal where “being right” has replaced being Christlike.
Because standing for ourselves may make us look strong—but standing in Him makes us steadfast.
Reflection
What “truths” are you standing for that might actually be preferences or pride?
How can humility become the ground you stand on instead of self-justification?
What would it look like to stand for Truth Himself—Jesus—today?
Prayer