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The Destination! - Speaking The Truth in Love
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Speaking The Truth in Love by Kathi Macias
When I first became a believer, nearly thirty-three years ago, a very wise pastor gave me some of the best advice I will ever receive on this earth. He said, “As you study the Scriptures and become more intimately acquainted with what is required of us as believers, make a list of those things you are willing to die for—and never compromise on them. But always remember to keep the list short.”
As a lifelong pleaser, it is difficult for me to confront someone on an error or to speak something that might hurt or offend, but the Scriptures require that I speak the truth. Of course, if I’m not intimately acquainted with those Scriptures, I won’t know what truth is. As Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”, so the world asks the same question, denying the existence of absolute truth so they can make it up as they go, depending on the current situation and circumstances.
But absolute truth does exist, and it’s found written in the Word of God and embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ. Anything that contradicts the veracity of God’s Word or the deity of Christ is simply not true, and it is our duty as believers to confront it. However, if we are to be effective, that duty must be motivated by love. When we confront error, we do so by “speaking the truth in love,” meaning our motive is to see the one who is in error restored to right relationship with God. To speak the truth apart from love is cruel and selfish, regardless of the validity of our words. On the other hand, to refuse to speak the truth for fear of offending someone isn’t love at all; it’s self-serving sentimentality, which does nothing to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation to which God has called us.
Keeping in mind that our purpose as believers, and also as writers and communicators, is to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation that Jesus initiated through His earthly life, death, and resurrection, let’s remember that pastor’s wise words about making a list of things we are willing to die for, based on the Scriptures, and never compromise or back down. But let’s also keep that list short. If we are “speaking the truth in love,” we will not shirk our duty to confront error that contradicts the truth of God’s Word, but neither will we use that truth to destroy rather than restore, or to stir up strife over issues that aren’t important.
Keep your list short, fellow scribes, but never compromise when that list is challenged. Wherever we go and whatever we do, let’s use the words God has given us to speak the truth in love and fulfill the ministry of reconciliation.
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