Truth AND Love - Psalm 34:8

John is often called “John the Beloved”; he refers to himself as “The disciple Jesus loved”. (John 20:2)

In today’s Bible reading*, John emphasizes the two-pronged approach to pleasing God: Love and Truth. (2 John 1:4-6, 9) If you’re going to walk with Jesus, you can’t have one without the other.

Each day, as I read my Facebook Newsfeed, I see a lot of posts about the importance of Truth. I also see a lot of posts about the importance of Love. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of posts that intersect Truth and Love.

Sometimes it’s very discouraging to see the truth spoken so harshly by Believers. I often scratch my head, asking how these people can be so harsh when they claim to preach grace. It’s also discouraging to see posts by Believers who have little-to-no regard for the Truth as revealed in Scripture, and only promote Love.

But John says we need both Truth and Love.

Application

If you look at the street signs above, you’ll see that we’re standing at the intersection of Truth and Love. Truth and Love aren’t the opposite ends of one street. They actually are two separate streets. Truth Street has Truth at one end and Error at the other end. Love Street has Love at one end and either Hate or Apathy at the other end.

Perhaps I need to be more judicious with the Facebook Groups I read. How about you? Do you tend to lean more toward Truth-Centered or Love-Centered?

As I typed this devotional, I had to go back and correct an easy, but completely wrong conclusion. I originally suggested that we think about how we can be more balanced between Truth and Love.

And then I realized that you don’t have to choose one over the other! Instead, we should look for the intersection of Truth and Love.

Paul tells us we need both Truth and Love to be mature Believers.

But speaking the truth in love,
let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.
(Ephesians 4:15 CSB)

* Today we are reading 2 John 1.

This devotional was originally published on October 4, 2019

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