Something I struggle with is how to share the truth of the gospel all while being loving at the same time. It’s not something I have always done well. Often times love and truth are pitted against each other. As if you can’t have both, you can only pick one. If you tell someone the truth of the Word you have to compromise love. If you are loving well then you have to compromise being truthful. When in all actuality love and truth go hand in hand. God is love and God is truth.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who ever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV) This is probably one of the most well known scriptures in the world and I have read it and seen it hundreds of times. Not until recently did I begin to understand it. In order to know God it requires more than a Sunday visit. It’s daily studying and mediation in his word. The greek word for so is (outos), which means thus or in this manner or like this. The verse doesn’t mean so, God loved the world. It means, in this manner God loved the world. God loved the world like this. How does he love the world? By giving the world his one and only son. What happens after that? Whoever believes in him will have eternal life. That is whoever believes in him will not only accept that truth but will live out that truth. God has just shown us love and truth in a single act. The giving of his Son, Jesus Christ. Love and truth are not opposing each other. If you believe in Jesus you believe in love. If you accept Jesus you are dedicated to his truth.
Jesus does not condemn. That is satan’s job. We are required to be transformed, to pick up our cross daily. That means dying to yourself. Not physically, but to our own selfish desires, to do the will of God. We are called to be in this world, not of it. So if that means making a sacrifice to a fleshly desire daily, that is what we must do.
Being a Christian is not easy and in this culture it gets harder every day. We will never win anyone to Christ by hammering a person over the head with truth and not showing any love. On the other hand we can love someone right into hell by not ever speaking truth. We must be in our bibles daily, spend time in prayer and have a good church community. God will show us how to “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)
Wondering Woman 