Loving the Truth - What Does It Mean to Love in Truth?

Loving is something very important in our lives. Loving one another is the command Jesus gave to the disciples before leaving them forever (John 13:33-35). Jesus said that through love, people will know that we are Jesus’ disciples. We often have a picture of love as entirely harmonious and full of joy. This way of thinking leads us to view a lack of harmony and joy as meaning there is no love.

Truth in love

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus to hold firmly to the truth in love so that we may grow in Him (Ephesians 4:15). Paul taught the church that in maintaining unity, they needed to grow in speaking the truth in love to one another. To speak the truth in love means having the courage to tell one another the truth; this is a form of our love! This does not mean we judge one another, but that we love and dare to say what is right according to the Word.

One example of speaking the truth in love is when Jesus met a rich young ruler who ran after Him to ask about eternal life (Mark 10:17-22). In that conversation, Jesus looked at the young man and loved him, then spoke the truth by telling him to sell all his possessions and follow Jesus. What is surprising is the young man’s reaction: he left Jesus because of his wealth. Jesus did not hesitate to speak what was true and in love when it was needed.

Situations where it will be hard for us to love

There are times in our relationships with one another when we need to speak the truth more than anything else. Yet reality is not as easy as we think. In the book Radical Love written by Randy McKean, it is said that there are 3 situations where it will be hard for us to love:

1. Facing people who do not have a good relationship with us.
2. Helping discipline people who are unwilling to repent.
3. Facing those who cause division and those who believe unhealthy teaching.

We often face the things above as we live together as one church. We often respond to these situations with anger/harshness, judgment, sentimentality, or even avoidance.

Responses like these keep us from acting in love and speaking the truth in love. How can we keep loving when difficult things like these happen? The answer is to love the truth more than anything. We need to learn to love the truth more than anything else to face times like these! This means we must always follow the way of the Word in facing challenges. We must choose the path that God has written in His Word above anything else. This is not easy, but through this God wants to teach all of us to love the truth.

We need to learn to love the truth more than anything else to face times like these.

What response should we have when we are faced with unpleasant or unconducive situations? Reflect on these 4 things:

• Calm ourselves first by praying
• Think first so we can see the issue clearly
• Study the Word to know how to face the situation
• Face it in God’s way according to the Word

By practicing these things, we will learn to understand the way God teaches as it is written in the Word.

This is the first part of a lesson series that can help us learn God’s way of facing the challenges above with love.