40 Days of Life | Day 9 | Love or Truth
All you need is love. Right? Well, not exactly.
For some love flows freely. Others are known for their passion for truth. We’ve all experienced one without the other. Truth that slaps you in the face may or may not be motivating. Love in the absence of truth is lukewarm and easily persuaded. It covers up fear and self ambition.
Ephesians 4:15 says, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” This phrase is found in the larger context of unity in the body of Christ. We are called to unity in faith and knowledge of Jesus. Speaking the truth in love is the alternative to being “children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (v. 14)
Knowledge of truth may keep you from being moved by every new idea, but without love, the unity of the body will suffer. “…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.” (v. 16)
Truth spoken in love honors the message and the person. Love backed by truth changes hearts. If we speak the truth in love, we build one another up. One without the other may cause harm where help was intended. Does your expression of love or truth need an alignment?
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40 Days of Life: Day 3 - Life is a Gift
40 Days of Life: Day 2 - Are You Prepared?
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