Truth and Love
by Pastor Greg Hoffmann
Since Noah called me out in his recent sermon, I thought I would write a devotion on the subject. 😉
Perhaps you are familiar with Ephesians 4:15 which reads: “…speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
Recently a number of occurrences have converged in life which, in a positive way, are causing me to take stock of my relationship with the Lord. One of those events is reading a book that has been around for a while but is new to me. The book—which I highly recommend for your reading—is Surrender To Love, by David G. Benner. It has served to deepen my understanding of God’s perfect love in an amazing way. Other events are: 1) The recent death of a good friend who found it hard to accept the love of Jesus for him; life seemed to be all about “doing enough” and “getting people to change.” 2) A difficult season in which I find myself (not unlike difficult seasons which you have experienced or are experiencing). This season is revealing to me things about myself that I had not realized before, causing me to bring those exposed areas before the Lord—areas that I previously did not want to admit (such as an underlying anger beneath a generally quiet and calm exterior). The Lord and I are having many conversations about the source of that anger and frustration, and what He wants to do with it. 3) My need to “achieve” in order to feel adequate (a need that is being tested by semi-retirement).
What do these have to do with TRUTH and LOVE? I’m glad that you asked. 😂
If we as followers of Jesus are to be able to speak the truth in a way that reflects God’s love for us, then we need to begin by being able to be honest with and about ourselves in the presence of the Lord. Do I trust in His love to be secure even in the face of my brokenness, ugliness, and rebellion? Or do I just talk about God’s love as some objective truth that I don’t experience?
In Ephesians 3:17-19 the apostle Paul prays this prayer for all who read his letter. He says, “I pray:
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness
of God.”
There are a few phrases of this passage where a literal translation may give greater insight:
v. 17b: “in love being rooted and grounded”—love is put first to emphasize where we are to be rooted and grounded.
v. 18a: “May be entirely competent to grasp/lay hold of with all the saints…”—it is the Lord who equips us to grasp the full dimension of His love.
v. 19a: “to experientially know the surpassing-knowledge-love-of-Christ.” This is where the rubber meets the road, for to experientially know Christ’s love we must be honest (truthful) with ourselves—allow Jesus to speak the truth to us in love.
In Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), the loving father did not tell the shameful and broken prodigal son to clean up before he embraced him. Instead, in a picture of God’s love in the face of our brokenness, the father ran and embraced him—sin, shame, and all. What a picture of the love of God expressed in Jesus dying for our sin!
If I, as a follower of Jesus, am to speak the truth in love to others, I must first experience the surpassing-knowledge-love-of-Christ for and in me. In the security of that love, I can bring before Him the brokenness of my life with its inadequacy and failures, let Him embrace me, and know that I am loved, even when I fall short. Only when I am secure in the Father’s LOVE, can I be “truthful” in loving others, neither glossing over the truth for the sake of permissive, “warm feeling” love nor lovelessly proclaiming the truth in legalism.
I am learning…and I invite you to join me in this journey.
Father, teach us to experience Your loving embrace in Jesus that we neither run from You nor try to hide our sin from You. Embrace us, Lord, in Your perfect love that we might love others in the same way, demonstrating Your Truth and Love. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.