Truth and Love Go Together

Do you ever have trouble figuring out how to balance truth and love? Peace is a good thing. I don’t like conflict, and I would prefer to avoid saying things that could draw fire.

On the other hand, I have noticed that there are times when I can’t have personal peace if I don’t verbalize a risky statement to someone. In an era where tolerance is the main watchword, love goes over well, but truth is viewed with suspicion. It is as if truth and love are opposites. To love, we can’t speak against anything. To be truthful is often to be seen as unloving.

God’s word tells us that part of our power as followers of Christ is our willingness to speak truth in love. Truth and love are inseparable, just as love and action are inseparable.

Here’s what God says in Ephesians 4:14–15: “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

In the church, we maintain our sharpness and avoid being sucked into sin and error by our willingness to speak and hear the truth in the context of accepting, loving relationships. The result is that we all grow in Christlikeness. 

May we all take that risk today, if it is needed. Pick up the phone and speak the truth in love. Our growth as believers often depends upon it.

In Christ,

Chris Heinss