Ephesians 4:20-25 (NIV) 20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
How many of us already know we ought to speak the truth to our neighbor? How many of us have wished we had spoken up and told the truth, but did not? How many of us have ever spoken up, told the truth, and then wished we had not?
Speaking the truth comes from new life, given to each of us in Jesus Christ. We receive a gift that enables us to speak the truth in the manner and spirit of Jesus Christ. Anyone can work at improving his or her ability to tell the truth. But without the gift of life from Jesus we cannot and do not speak the truth in the manner and spirit of Jesus.
Speaking truthfully is built in us by three relationships: our relationship to God, our relationship to other people, and our relationship to ourselves. We speak the truth to one another for the sake of our relationship with one another. Truth is an absolute necessity to good relationships. And yet, one of the most popular excuses we have for not speaking the truth is relationships – we don’t want to cause hurt, we don’t want to offend, we don’t want to make others mad at us.
We simply do not tell the truth in the manner and spirit of Jesus if that truth is not of immense importance and value to us, a part of our integrity. We need to test our convictions about telling the truth with our friends, especially our Christian friends who care about us and will be straight with us. We need those servants of God in our life.
Jesus was truthful. He was truthful when he called His enemies hypocrites, and when He spoke to His disciples about going to Jerusalem to be put to death. Jesus was truthful later when He told Peter that he would deny Christ.
Have you experienced that truth of God in Jesus Christ and do you believe that the truth of God has been given to you in Jesus? In a world jangling with hype the art of speaking the truth to one another in the spirit of Jesus Christ shines like a fine cut jewel.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope August 15, 1999
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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