Recently I told someone that they had spinach in their teeth. It was really awkward and I felt bad for that person but I didn’t want them to go on through out their day with it there. It is interesting that when you tell someone about something like that their first look or reaction almost makes you feel like you put the spinach in their teeth. Ask anyone what kind of a friend they’d prefer at that moment; the person that would tell the truth or the person that just pretends they didn’t see it. I don’t know about you but I’d want the truth teller not the pretender who plays it safe at my expense.
In regard to spiritual matters, as sisters and brothers in Christ we are to uphold one another and this “upholding” isn’t just about producing warm fuzzy feelings for and in one another. Certainly we are to encourage one another but we are also to speak the truth that will help one another grow in Christ. Doing this without doing it with a love for that person is devastating. It must be done in love. Even worse is not speaking truth at all. You can find hundreds of people who will tell you what you want to hear or not say anything at all just to play it safe. It is fruitful to find and be a person that genuinely loves a person enough to say the truthful things that are sometimes hard things to hear and say but produces much fruit in one’s life as a result. It is an important mandate;
Eph 4:25 “put off falsehood and speak truthfully.”
Eph 4:15 “…speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”
2 comments:
Yes, but then there are those who don't want to hear it. Why cast your pearls before swine? I was recently at a coffee shop and tried to spare this waitress from embarrassment by whispering to her several times her pants zipper was undone. She glared at me and ignored it. She didn't care if anyone saw her panties! Sooo... the moral of the story is, "Don't get caught with your pants down!"
I am responding from a personal perspective. I'm sure that many times people reached out to me it was a "throwing their pearls to the swine" feeling for them. I wasn't receiving what they were trying to give at the time. I have come to appreciate those pearls of wisdom thrown my way but many years down the road. It is hard to say when those pearls we try to give away will be truly appreciated and of value to someone. God knows though.
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