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Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ (Ephesians 4:15, ESV).
There are two central concepts to Christianity — truth and love. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:15 that both are needed “to grow up in every way … into Christ.”
For maturity in Christ, we must balance truth and love. Often, Christians become unbalanced by emphasizing one over the other. When it comes to theological, doctrinal views of the Bible, and even immigration — some want law (truth), and others desire mercy or acceptance (love).
Glancing through Facebook®, it doesn’t take a lot of finger-scrolling to find “truth/love” conflicts. Both sides feel they are right, and both believe the other is wrong. They claim to know what Jesus would do and fold Him into their legalistic (too much law) or licentious (too much love) viewpoints.
And now I get myself in trouble…
If you are a “truth” person, you are imbalanced, and if you are a “love” person, you’re off kilter as well, because the Bible teaches both truth and love. Now, let’s pause and talk about a Johari Window. The Johari Window is an imaging device that allows us to see four panes of a window, with each pane representing a different view — three of the views are wrong, and only one is right.
Below you will find a Johari Window depicting truth and love, illustrating what happens when truth is without love, love is without truth, both are absent, and finally both are present.
- Licentiousness: driven by love but lacking truth
- Legalism: high truth but lacking love
- Depraved: no love or truth
- Holiness: driven by love and truth
Take a moment and consider this diagram, and then consider how the quadrant can affect the following:
- Biblical marriage
- Immigration
- Doctrine
- Judgment
- Feeling guilty
- Anger
- Doubt
Every issue we can possibly face in life has both a truth and a love aspect; finding peace means seeking the holiness of God — or the balance of truth and love.
Therefore, love truth and peace (Zechariah 8:19b).