Kindness & Truth
“All Scripture is inspired by God and reveals his objective truth, which we boldly receive and deliver. Though we do not allow truth to be diluted, we adopt a kind and gracious approach in our delivery. True strength is shown when we choose to temper and control our emotions, and allow kindness to reign.”
Men, if we're going to be good followers of Christ, have healthy families at home, good marriages, healthy church families, and a strong brotherhood, we must ensure we operate in both kindness and in truth. Kindness and truth are two things that must definitely go together, for we cannot separate the two. All throughout Scripture we see kindness and truth married together. If you separate one from the other, it can lead to destruction, but when we put these two together, it leads to a really powerful transformative effect.
We know that the scriptures are the foundation of truth, but if we don't spend time in the scriptures, we're not availing ourselves of that truth. We literally have scripture as the standard of truth that tells us what's right and true, and what is wrong. The truth is, the Bible is powerful and it has the ability to transform us. So, the Bible is not something we should read only to learn, but it is something that we should read in order to change ourselves, to transforms our lives.
“You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood. And they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God, and it's useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives? It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:15,16
If we are going to have a healthy marriage and family life, we have to deal in truth. It's important that we have a truthful relationship with one another, but if it's not tempered, and if it's not guided by kindness, then it brings about destruction. Without the truth, we are lost, we don't find the way without the truth, but being kind means we have adopted our strength and modified our strength so that we can deliver the truth in such a way as to bring about healthy transformation, and bring life and encouragement to other people.
“Don't you see how wonderfully kind God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” -Romans 2:4 NLT
Kindness without truth is frankly meaningless. I can be nice to you, but if I leave you in your condition without bringing the truth, the enemy that came to steal, kill and destroy will do just that. That's why we should unashamedly talk about Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. Any other way is leading to death and destruction, so out of love for one another, we cannot allow others to stay in a bad place without hearing the truth. But at the same time, we must do it with kindness. We must remember that truth without kindness is hurtful. If we just deliver the truth and there's no kindness with it, it just causes pain and it causes people to reject us rather than leading them towards repentance. It's the kindness that causes us to change our mind. It's the kindness that causes us to turn and think about going in a different direction.
It is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. God holds up a standard of truth that is immovable, but he delivers it to us with kindness so that we can receive it and we can repent and turn our hearts and come back to God. It's his kindness that leads us, so for truth to be effective, it must be administered with kindness. One of my favorite stories in John 4 is the story of the woman at the well. Jesus confronts her with the truth, but doing so with so much kindness that the woman believes him to be the Messiah. In the end, after having the conversation with Jesus, the Samaritan woman’s heart is so moved and transformed that she runs in to town to tell the very people she was trying to avoid about the Messiah, and she becomes the first evangelist of her time. She brings the entire village back with her and Jesus actually ends up staying with them for three days, and many of them got saved. How? They began to believe in Jesus because his kindness led them to repentance. The kindness he showed, along with the truth he brought.
Here's the thing that I love about Jesus. Jesus’s truth always calls us out with the truth, but he does it with kindness. He does it in such a way that we know we're loved and accepted. We know that he cares and he wants to move us away from sin. This whole idea of kindness and truth coming together men is so important. It's important for our families. It's important for our relationships. It's important for us as the church, as we share with the world the good news about Jesus, because these two coming together are a powerful combination.
It's important because a divided church is not a good advertisement to the world about the kindness of God. So as Christians, we share the truth of God with the world, with his love, and with his kindness. One of my favorites of the Beatitudes is where Jesus says “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the whole earth.” -Matthew 5:5. This idea of meekness is one of the things that we should think about when we're speaking the truth and we're thinking about the execution of it. We can’t be one of these people that likes to “tell it like it is”. That is not why we are here. The Earth doesn't need us to tell everybody and everything what's wrong with it? But what it does need, is for us to put on our kindness, and when we see something wrong, be a part of the solution, engage with it, and be a part of making it better. And that's what this idea of meekness is. Meekness is not weakness. It is actually strength under control. It's the ability to choose how we respond, to choose not to get angry when we're facing persecution, to choose to turn the other cheek, to choose how to go the extra mile, to choose how to love and be kind while we're still representing God’s truth, and do it with strength so that we can bring about the transformation it is purposed for! That is where we see His kindness and truth that leads us to repentance. Jesus taught us to be salt and light in the world.
Brothers, we are called to stand for truth and to do so with the same kindness that God showed to us. The kindness that led us to repentance by loving us so well that we earn the right to share the truth with others. We can make a huge difference in this world, our families, this brotherhood, and especially the church as a whole if we can embrace this aspect. For a picture to the world of the love of God and how He operates through us and for us with kindness and truth acting together, we can display an accurate view of our Savior’s heart and show what a healthy church operating in kindness and truth can do to change the world we live in. -S/F
“Show proper respect to everyone, love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, and honor the king” -1 Peter 2:17