The most loving thing we can do is tell someone the truth. There are times where it is easy to sweep something under the rug or just keep the peace by being quiet… but is that really being loving? John has focused on love when writing the Gospel of John and his 3 letters. In one way or another he mentions love more than 100x. So, loving God and loving people is important but so is saying and living the truth.
“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” 2 John 1:3-6
Share love but don’t forget truth. Share truth but don’t forget love. The two go hand-and-hand. It’s love to walk in His commands and to teach them to others. May we be found like John found the church: Loving but living the truth. Living the truth but loving.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.