EPHESIANS 4: 15

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." — Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)

To Ponder

If there is one thing most of us find genuinely difficult, it is this: saying the true thing, to the right person, in the right way. I have noticed that we tend to drift to one of two extremes, either we speak the truth bluntly, without care for the heart that receives it, or we stay silent in the name of kindness, letting love become an excuse for avoidance.

But this reading holds both together. Speaking the truth in love. Not truth instead of love. Not love instead of truth. Both, at once, woven together because as God’s people you cannot fully have one without the other.

Truth without love wounds. It may be accurate, but it leaves people bleeding rather than healed. Love without truth comforts in the moment but fails the person in the long run. Real love the kind that looks like Jesus  is willing to say the hard thing because it cares too much to stay quiet.

And notice what this produces: growth. Growth comes when we are honest with one another, gently and courageously, in a way that points each other toward Christ the head of the body, the standard we are all growing toward.

So, if you are wondering what to do in a difficult conversation, with a struggling friend, in a moment that calls for more than kind actions, here is your answer: speak the truth. And wrap it, carefully and genuinely, in love. That is always the way of maturity. That is always the way of Christ.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the perfect union of truth and love. Every word you ever spoke was both completely honest and completely kind  never one at the expense of the other. I confess that I fall short of that balance far too often. Sometimes I hide behind love to avoid saying what needs to be said. Other times I wield truth like a weapon, forgetting the person on the other side of my words. Forgive me for both and grow me into something more like you. May my words today build up rather than tear down, clarify rather than confuse, and always point the people around me closer to you.

In your name I pray. Amen.

Today's devotion is written by Pr Nich Kitchen, LifeWay Epping