Thought For Today: “Speak God’s Truth in Love”

“Speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15a)

The kindest thing we can do for anyone is to tell them the truth, which is the sign of a true friend. If people don’t tell us the truth then they aren’t true friends. Jeremiah calls them deceivers, and their tongues are like deadly arrows. (Jeremiah 9:5, 8)

A lot of people really don’t want to hear the truth, because it’s painful, but if you go to a doctor, the last thing you want them to do is sing a chorus of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” If we’re sick, then we want the doctor to tell us the truth and how to can get well.

But Paul doesn’t tell us to just speak the truth, but to speak it in love. Showing kindness isn’t only in what we say, but in how we say it. So, before we speak, let’s check our motives. Are we correcting them to put them down, or to build them up? Are we correcting them for their benefit, or ours? Are we correcting them to condemn, or to protect? Are we correcting to hurt them, or to put soothing salve on the problem?

Paul places these two words together, because truth without love is cold and hard, while love without truth is soft and mushy. Therefore, we need both truth and love working hand in hand to be effective.