Last week I spoke about Speaking the Truth in Love and explored Ephesians 4:15-16 in more depth.
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.
– Ephesians 4:15-16
Too often we have used this misquoted verse to excuse some of the most unloving actions in Church history. We cannot go back in time to change any of these actions but we can control how we live out the Gospel in the present.
Remembering the first time “in love” is used in this section of Ephesians which is aimed at maintaining Unity with Christ followers. At the beginning of this section, we read the following:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
-Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV
This means that Speaking the Truth in Love cannot be separated from humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, and mainlining unity through the bond of peace. We also need to remember that TRUTH in the Bible often means to simply not lie, it has nothing to do with sharing our unrequested opinions to others. To ensure we Speak the Truth in Love let’s live out the Gospel of Christ with our actions and humbly share our convictions when requested.
How many harmful debates around God would end if we simply humbly shared our convictions upon request? Allowing our actions to preach the Gospel and only using words when required as Saint Francis of Assisi encouraged us to as Jesus followers.
To be honest this doesn’t take a major effort on our part and truthfully adding the simple phrase, “but I could be wrong,” at the end of our sharing of our conviction could have profound implications allowing many to experience the love of Christ. The Love of Christ has the power to change our world! We are simply asked to live it out and humbly share our convictions when requested.
This is Speaking the Truth in Love