Twice in the past week I have heard the question posed on TV "And what caused the turning point in your life?" The question was asked of a woman dealing with anorexia and of a man conquering an addiction to drugs. They both answered the question with basically the same answer: "When someone finally spoke the truth to me."
"I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right" (Isaiah 45:18, NIV).
"These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment" (Zechariah 8:16, NIV).
Now the secret is that as Christians we are to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15, NIV). But how do we do that?
The Bible is quite clear. We are to give the truth to a person without a lot of personal opinion. Our back up should always be scripture.
I recall many years ago when a Christian friend spoke the truth to me. My friend and I were both on the PTA (Parent/Teacher Association) board and attended an integration meeting for our children's school together. I was convinced I was not racist, but I was actively working against integration and felt very justified in my position. As we were driving home after the meeting, my friend said to me, "Marilyn, I know you are very sincere in your position, but I believe you have a racist attitude and your position is not honoring to God."
Now I can't say I was thrilled to hear her statement, but I knew my friend was trying to speak the truth to me. My responsibility was to receive her words and try to decide just exactly what I was going to do with her words. I took her words to the Lord and prayed for God to show me what He wanted me to do and how I could represent Him best.
God began to speak to my heart and I began to see that I was afraid of those who were obviously different from me. I asked God to change my heart and help me welcome change in my life and in our home.
I could spend hours telling you how God expanded my views and subsequently my life. One of the greatest things that happened was when an African-American young man said to me, "You know the thing I like about the way you raised your kids? You raised them to be color-blind!"
How grateful I am that my friend spoke the truth to me in love. I can't imagine what I would be like if she hadn't spoken the truth to me that day. My friend did not preach or condemn, but she spoke the truth lovingly. I'm sure she had no idea how God would expand my life's experiences and break down the walls of prejudice that I was convinced were justified and acceptable for a Christian to have.
Perhaps you need to speak the truth to someone and perhaps that someone is you!
Dear Jesus,
Open my eyes to truth and break down the walls of untruth with which I have surrounded myself. Help me to speak truth in love. Amen
Marilyn Heavilin
Marilyn is a wife and mother, author, and international conference and retreat speaker. She and her husband Glen serve as Counselors-in-Residence at America's KESWICK during the summer months.
DIGGING DEEPER
James 1:6-8
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
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1 comment:
Thank you so much for the personal reflections each of you share in these devotionals. I recently saw a movie that portrayed how it was totally unacceptable by a black man and a white women to be together and married a few years back, even though the two people were deeply in love and committed to each other. Can this be the same situation with how we don't think people of the same sex should be together? I don't think two people of the same sex should be married - I believe that marriage is sacred and between a man and a woman but I don't want to like people of old and miss the real love between two people, for I do know that God is love. Please help me with this - I do have friends that are gay and am becoming mixed on this point.
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