DEVOTION
EPHESIANS
THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, SO HELP ME GOD!
Eph 4:25
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
NIV
What kind of falsehood is this speaking about here? Simply put, do not lie to your neighbor. But how could I possibly lie to my neighbor? By not telling them the truth, but the truth about want I must ask myself. It would seem to me one of the ways I could do this is when they ask me, “how you doing?” I would have to actually answer the truth instead of just simply saying. “Great”. Not that I am not doing great most of the time, but occasionally I might be feeling a little upset over something. I challenge I have though is what if the something I am feeling and speak it would be a cause of division or gossip. Then I cannot speak that truth of my feelings, so maybe this means something else. Maybe this is talking about not holding back from telling my neighbor what they need to hear regarding the truth of God. What if this is about sharing the Gospel, except it is about the other members of the body, so they are already saved. So then it is about speaking to them about how they are in error, about the sin in their life, would not that be judging? I do remember pastor T always telling me not to preach problems but the Word. So maybe this is simply about always speaking the truths of God to my neighbors. If that speaks to an issue within them, I am not pointing out a sin, but the Word is speaking to their own heart within themselves. I must just speak the Word of God to my neighbors, to the other members of the body. I must not allow any false doctrines to exist within my thinking and thus be spoken with my mouth. I must not be a part of teaching any false theology, spreading any dogmas or traditional thinking which is not really based on the scripture but rather on some denominational interpretation. I simply must speak the truth. I must speak the Word of God as it is plainly declared. If by doing so I cause my fellow believers not like me, so be it.
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