Love Rejoices in the Truth
It’s happened to all of us at some point: someone you admire, look up to, and love dearly is right in front of you, sharing something important while you’re unable to pay attention to what they’re saying the moment you notice a tiny, green speck of food lodged between their teeth and you think to yourself, Who’s gonna tell ‘em? It’s especially rough when it's a serious conversation you’ve wasted a whole lot of time not listening to because of the *ahem* distraction, if you will… which you deliberately kept to yourself until now so as to not offend or embarrass them. And as soon as they finish telling you whatever you didn’t hear, and are about to walk away, you have that inner dilemma… Do I tell them, or do I not? You can almost hear the dramatic music from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire drone in as Regis Philbin appears on your shoulder, “Is that your final answer?” And off they go with their broccoli smile. It was for their sake, you tell yourself.
Small moments like these reveal our true character. Though seemingly insignificant, the principle is profound. The hard truth is you didn’t do it for them, you did it for you. You didn’t want your appearance to erode for taking 3 seconds to tell that friend, coworker, neighbor, or even spouse, something that would save them from embarrassment hell. This begs the question, Christian, what about actual hell? Truth may hurt, but it sets people free (Jn 8:32). No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but when a non-believer, or even a fellow brother or sister in Christ, believes something contrary to the truth, it’s especially critical for us to speak the truth in love in an effort to build up (Eph 4:15), and NOT to point out everyone’s faults to feel better about our own (Matt 7:4).
Not only does speaking the truth in love build up the church. It proclaims the gospel of Jesus. John 1:4-5 says this about Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light of Christ shone in our darkness, not only to reveal our surroundings, but more importantly, to reveal our condition of sin. Apart from Him, I am dead in my trespass and my sin–the broccoli in my teeth–but in His love, God sent Jesus to show me the truth of my sin through faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who have walked with me, not to condemn me, but to love me away from eternal separation from God. O, how great is the love of God, in His word and in His church.
So you see, friend, love rejoices in the truth. And the truth will set us free, both the receiver and the news bearer. May we speak the truth in love and all around us know the love of Jesus in every word and deed. Now… who’s that person with the broccoli in their teeth? Who’s gonna tell ‘em?
Small moments like these reveal our true character. Though seemingly insignificant, the principle is profound. The hard truth is you didn’t do it for them, you did it for you. You didn’t want your appearance to erode for taking 3 seconds to tell that friend, coworker, neighbor, or even spouse, something that would save them from embarrassment hell. This begs the question, Christian, what about actual hell? Truth may hurt, but it sets people free (Jn 8:32). No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but when a non-believer, or even a fellow brother or sister in Christ, believes something contrary to the truth, it’s especially critical for us to speak the truth in love in an effort to build up (Eph 4:15), and NOT to point out everyone’s faults to feel better about our own (Matt 7:4).
Not only does speaking the truth in love build up the church. It proclaims the gospel of Jesus. John 1:4-5 says this about Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light of Christ shone in our darkness, not only to reveal our surroundings, but more importantly, to reveal our condition of sin. Apart from Him, I am dead in my trespass and my sin–the broccoli in my teeth–but in His love, God sent Jesus to show me the truth of my sin through faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who have walked with me, not to condemn me, but to love me away from eternal separation from God. O, how great is the love of God, in His word and in His church.
So you see, friend, love rejoices in the truth. And the truth will set us free, both the receiver and the news bearer. May we speak the truth in love and all around us know the love of Jesus in every word and deed. Now… who’s that person with the broccoli in their teeth? Who’s gonna tell ‘em?
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