The truth is a valuable commodity that is precious and dear to most people. The problem with seeing the truth as a commodity is that it means different things to different people. One person’s “truth” is someone else’s lie and vice versa. However, the truth of God, which should start with a capital “T” is the one truth that never lies. The Bible is full of truths that people can find hard to accept. One popular Bible verse in and out of church talks about the truth.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32 (NIV)
Another popular Bible verse within the Church is from Ephesians.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
People usually remember the part of this verse about speaking the truth in love. Not the rest. Which is a problem. What, you might think, is wrong with speaking the truth in love? I’m glad you asked.
We have a real problem with the word love because we use it too often. I love pizza, my dogs, the color green, my family, and God, to name a few things I love. Do I love pizza in the same way that I love God? Of course not, that’s silly. Most of us might laugh at the notion of loving pizza and God with the same love. Because we apply love to so many different things, we first need to understand what kind of love we need to speak the truth in.
The love here in Ephesians 4:15 is agape love. This is the love God has for us. It’s pure, sacrificial, intentional, and desires only good. Obviously, it’s a different type of love than the love I have for pizza. When Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself, this is the type of love He was talking about.
What else do we know about love?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)
If we’re thinking about speaking the truth in love, then we need to run it through the filter of what love means. It’s when we speak the truth, as to how we see it, that it’s not done with the love we might think.
When Paul wrote Ephesians 4:15 he was talking about us speaking the truth in love for a specific purpose. That we will be able to grow and become mature in Christ. Therefore, speaking the truth in love about what someone looks like in that dress probably isn’t going to work out well. It’s also not what Paul was talking about.
Free from Sin
When Jesus said the truth will set you free, He was talking to the Jews about being slaves to sin.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
John 8:34 (NIV)
The truth that sets a person free is this.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”
John 8:31 (NIV)
Jesus also tells us this later in John 14.
“If you love me, keep my commands.”
John 14:15 (NIV)
The problem the Jews had was they didn’t see that they were slaves to sin. The same problem exists today and will be here until the Lord comes and everything we see today is no more. The Jews saw themselves as heirs to the promise that was given to Abraham. However, Jesus points out to them that they don’t behave like the children of Abraham.
“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.”
John 8:39 (NIV)
Although they were Abraham’s descendants, they weren’t acting like his children.
One might wonder how someone can be a descendant but not a child. Jesus shows us the difference here. A descendant is a biological offspring, but a child is a spiritual offspring without having to also be a biological offspring.
Children do the things that they see their parents doing.
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.
John 8:42 (NIV)
Jesus says that if the Jews were children of God, then they would love him because He’s God’s son. They would do the things that God does. However, because they don’t do the things that God does and they do the things that the devil does, kill, lie, and destroy, they are not children of Abraham, nor children of God.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 (NIV)
Conclusion
The truth of the Gospel sets us free from spiritual slavery and death by sin. Each of us, before we were saved behaved like children of the devil. However, we were taught the truth in love, and when we learned the truth, we accepted it, were freed, and became children of God.
Do you know God? God knows you, and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.
Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:
Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart, and I receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.
Four-Calendar Café 
Thank you for sharing God’s Word. I enjoyed reading it. God bless you.
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Thank you for reading! God bless you!
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Greetings,
Yes I agree with the scripture from Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
However in context the scripture’s before it states why we need to speak the truth in love, for the good and edifying of the true body of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Paul was addressing this to the brethren in Ephesians, so that they were not deceived by false teaching.
It is true Love to stand against anything that is false.
The same is meant by Paul’s writing in 1 Cor 13:4-7 to the believer’s on how to be with one another. 1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Are we forth coming to person’s that stand for the truth? Are we open to discuss it honestly, with out dissimulation? Which means are we going to show true love by not pretending to be something when we are not? Do we give honest answer’s to person’s questions, or do we just avoid, or evade to answer which means one is not being honest in presenting their truth thoughts and feelings, so they skip over certain truths, that is not having charity, it is actually loving “iniquity” and not rejoicing in truth.
That’s is why Jesus reproached the Jews, for their falseness, and their deception that they were of Abraham, when their actions of unbelief and hatred for the Truth Jesus Stood for, the same is today amongst those who proclaim Christ, but do not act like it in truth nor their words or actions. They pretend to love, when they do not.
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Amen, thank you brother. God bless you!
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