09 Jun W4 |  Telling the Truth

Posted at 17:29h in June, Topics 2024 by

REFERENCE BIBLE VERSE

John 15:19 ESV

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

OBJECTIVE

Knowing that nowadays many Christian values may be against what the world deems normal, we must know how to keep our ground while still showing God’s love.

CONTENT

The Only Truth

  • Sometimes it gets hard to discern between what the world is saying and what God is saying, because what the world says may sound pleasing to our ears. But we have to make God’s perspective the priority: “Let God be true though every one were a liar (Romans 3:4).” What God reveals about our lives is the true truth. The Bible knows us and our needs better than we do. 
  • Yet there are still conflicting ‘truths’ even between Christians, it’s not conflict with the world that surprises us; the division within the visible church is. Our Lord calls us to walk in unity amid this “crooked and twisted generation [Phillippians 2:15]). He does not ask us to become compliant with its perversion. Jesus calls us to be one just as He and the Father: “that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22). As followers of Christ we have to know that the ultimate truth is in the bible.
  • Some truths in the bible may make people feel uncomfortable, yet our feelings are not free of sin, and they don’t trump God’s truth. That Christ promises to forgive and restore all who repent and trust in him for salvation. Christ does not make an ally with the sins his blood crushes on the cross and washes clean. There is hope for all in the gospel. These are our truths. 
  • Christian love doesn’t pretend that the world is a safe place or that the enemies of Christ are harmless. Christian love seeks to make friends out of enemies through repentance and forgiveness. Christian love doesn’t delude ourselves into believing that sin is no big deal, or that we are more merciful than God.

Telling the Truth Requires  Love

  • In Mark 10 – Stories of The Rich and The Kingdom of God. “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Mark 10:21)”. As a result of his love for the man, Jesus told him the truth that does not please the young man’s heart. Yet it is the truth and Jesus said it out of love.
  • For Christ, love did not stand against truth; it mobilized the only truth in the universe capable of saving a lost sinner. And Christ shows us that love must speak the truth. We speak the truth not because we feel like we are better than others, but out of love because we know that the truth is what saves us all. That there is no greater joy than in Christ.
  • Before that, it all begins with ourselves. Have we rightly exercised the command to speak the truth in love? Through the reading of Scripture and prayer, God saturates us with himself. He matures us in the expression of his communicable attributes. He equips us to address ourselves — and then others.
  • We need to remind and keep each other accountable even when it’s hard or uncomfortable. We encourage Christian brothers and sisters to “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV).
  • The Bible calls the fear of man a snare (Proverbs 29:25), but the gospel sets us free from the fear of man. We have to be courageous and stand our ground knowing that we may receive rejections, we may be hated, yet know that we do it out of God’s abounding love for us. Knowing that the other person’s response is not our part but God’s. We may just plant the seeds and others may sow. 
  • Love that images Christ will shower others with gospel truth no matter who they are. Sometimes, people will bask. Sometimes, they will recoil. And yet, if we consider an eternity spent with God worth more than sparing ourselves “light momentary” discomfort (2 Corinthians 4:17), then in love we will speak the truth.

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTION

  • Has a truth in the bible ever made you uncomfortable? How did you react to it?
  • Have you ever been in a position where your loved ones’ values are against the value of Christ?
  • If yes, how do you deal with it and still show them love of Christ?

REFERENCES