Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:14-19
Memory verse: Ephesians 4: 15, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ.”
I magine that you are driving down a road in an unfamiliar territory at night and don’t realize the road ends at a sharp descent down a cliff. Although there are people around, no one attempts to alert you of the cliff because they believe it is none of their business.
This is similar to what we do when we avoid lovingly telling each other the truth in the church. We have been convinced that speaking the truth in love to one another is not effective in bringing help to a sinning saint. We’d rather tell someone else of another’s fault or bottle it up within us rather than confront them with the truth. Worse still we give political answers which we call “using wisdom”.
In the Bible passage we read it is implied that by not speaking the truth in love to one another, we actually hinder the growth of the body of Christ. It is deceptive to assume that your loving honesty will not make a difference. Remember that open rebuke is better than secret love. There’s a Nigerian proverb that says, “It’s only your friend that will tell you your mouth is smelling” For a long time I hated confronting people with the truth and would rather hold it in. God is helping me in this area. For the sake of the kingdom, let us all decide today to work on this area.