The Truth....In Love

This concept of speaking the truth, in love has really been on my mind lately.

Ephesians 4:15-16 says "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow, so that it builds itself up in love."

In the past few months, heck, really, in all of the years I've been a Christian, I've seen this phrase used by Christians to justify their condemnation of other people and their actions.  I have found in my own experience that most people who have "spoken the truth, in love" have actually just defended their beliefs and shouted from the rooftops that they are right and the other person is wrong.  End of Story.

There is a time and place for needing to speak some hard truths to a friend who you see heading in a wrong direction.  Guess what??  You need to earn that right.  Guess what else??  This is where the IN LOVE part comes in.  You CANNOT speak the truth "in love" to someone that you have no love for..and I am not talking about "love the sinner, hate the sin" kind of love.  I'm talking about the "rejoice when you rejoice, weep when you weep" type of love.  The kind of love where you know their story and they know yours and they know that your words are coming from a place of care and concern and NOT condemnation.

1 Corinthians 13:1 says, "If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal."

Think about a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  ANNOYING right....they might be tolerated the first couple of times but then the noise gets old.  We should be a beautiful melody to those who God has allowed to cross our paths.  Love is the note that we need to play.  

1 John 3:18 says, "Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action."

Notice how John points out that we don't show love by our words and speech. We have to be love.  We have to be the one that shows up when someone is moving and is asking for help.  We need to show up when someone is experiencing loss.  We need to show up when those we love are headed down a path of destruction.  We need to show up when someone just needs to know you are FOR them and not against them.

Did you know that God works out salvation for different people in different ways?  I know...shocking right.  God made us all different.  We all have different stories, different scars, different life experiences, so God must work on us all differently.  Do you think that if someone hasn't acknowledged God's existence that God isn't working in them just the same?  If your "truth, in love" is pushing someone further from God, it isn't love.