Nude Truth
When You Speak Truth without Love it is no longer Truth…
There seems to be a particular book that stirs up a lot of controversy. I’m not sure if you heard of it before, it’s called the BIBLE. There are numerous questioned issues in today’s society that all derive clearly from this book. I could list you staggering facts about the magnificence of this book, but I believe the one fact about this book that separates it from every other is, the Author…God!
You: The Bible is the best book ever
Your Friend: Why?
You: God wrote it! (Mic Drop)
The Bible is not just stories, it is a message from God Himself. I believe every word in the Bible was intentional, purposeful and profitable. Jesus even declared Himself as the Word (John 1:14) and He declared Himself the Truth (John 14:6). Unfortunately there are many christians who spew scriptures at people with out an once of love. Which is crazy because the Author of scripture is Love according to 1 John 4:8. To deliver a message without the Author’s character seems to be a serious injustice. Did you know you could say the right thing with wrong motives and completely nullify the intent…? In fact you cause tremendous damage. Now speaking the truth in love does not mean you water down the truth, it means you present the truth from a heart of compassion vs. a heart of judgment. Love also doesn’t mean you tolerate sin, love creates an environment where sin is surrendered. Love sees why the truth must be spoken; it’s not to call sin out, it’s to call people out of sin into God’s arms!
The Truth is not an entitlement to call peoples sin out, the truth is an empowerment to love them out of their sin.
If you wrote a letter to the most valuable person in your life, would you want a really judgmental on-edge person to recite it out loud to them…? No, you wouldn’t. You would want the heart of the letter to be revealed in the tone of the delivery. You would want a person that knew your intent to deliver the message. When we speak the Truth of the Word of God to others it is of the utmost importance that it is saturated in the love of God. Truth is only revealed through a revelation of God’s love. Rom 2:4 NLT; “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient Godis with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” What an insightful scripture! Did you know what Love’s number one characteristic is…? According to 1 Cor 13:4; Love is patient and the runner up to patient is, kind. His kindness and patience lead us out of a lifestyle of sin. Isn’t it ironic how fast we impatiently and unkindly jump on other’s sins, forgetting how patient God was with us, and how kind He was in showing us what we needed to surrender. Truth should be our language and love should be our tone.
Over and over again I see christians that wear offending people as a badge of honor, I myself was blindly walking in this deception for a time. I found that it was unfitting to the Character of Christ. Will the Gospel offend people…? Absolutely! Here’s a golden nugget to bring light to what I’m saying here; If you offend someone make sure it’s the Gospel that’s offending them, not the way you are presenting it. When we confine ourselves to just speaking truth without love, we deafen our audience to the purpose of the message. Truth without love has no substance. Truth has no destination without the direction of Love. Love gives truth a voice. When we speak the truth in love, the Holy Spirit arrests our audience with captivation.
Truth without love is nude and God is in the clothing business. When Adam and Eve sinned the first action God took was clothing them. When the prodigal son came home, the father clothed him. Isaiah 61:10 says, we are clothed with garments of salvation and covered with a robe of righteousness. One of my favorite verses regarding God’s clothing business and fashion line is Col 3:14 NLT; 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. Above all, is a very imperative statement. Clothing is a presentation. Take for instance, if the President of U.S.A. gave the State of the Union address in ripped sweatpants, a white tank top, and crocs you wouldn’t listen to one word he said. All you would be focused on would be the ludicrous outfit he was wearing for such an momentous occasion. The same thing applies in our lives when we don’t clothe ourselves in love before we speak. Your nude without love, so people don’t listen to what you’re saying they only focus on the presentation. When you wear love what you say carries the heartbeat of Heaven. Truth is scripture communicated, where as Love is scripture demonstrated.
Nothing embodies everything I am communicating more than this scripture; Eph 4:15 NLT; …we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. The key to maturing and growing your character into that of Christ’s, is to learn to speak the truth in love. The amount of truth you can speak in love is the measuring stick of your character.
Ask the Lord this day which areas of your life you have been to harsh on others, and ask for wisdom on how to communicate truth in love from this day forward in Jesus Name!
