I have always been short . . . you know, the one placed on the front row in the class pictures who can never reach anything on the high shelves.
For me, truth is admitting I am shorter than most individuals. But sometimes, the truth is not always presented most lovingly. For example, telling someone they are fat or ugly may be accurate, but it isn’t loving. Avoiding hard statements because we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings may be loving, but sometimes, people need to hear the truth.
In Ephesians, God provides a beautiful balance between the two concepts of truth and love. Both are equally important if we want to grow in our relationship with Jesus and other believers. The church gets stronger when everyone does their part in love.
Our relationships become authentic, purposeful, and impactful when we develop this beautiful but complex balance. We must speak the truth to others, but lovingly and honestly, so they will receive our truth. It is the balance of a scale.
We must only look past our social media pages or the news to find how drastically we have skewed God’s balance. So many opinions fly around social media and the news that we have lost the concepts of truth and love.
God wants us to speak the truth in a loving manner that helps us grow closer to Jesus and encourages those with whom we do life. So before you click send or post or open your mouth, ask, is it true and is it loving? If the answers are yes to both, proceed.
How can you do a better job of speaking the truth?
(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Lori Clancy is a writer.