But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. – John 3:21
My husband and I were ministering to a couple several years back and there was infidelity on the wife’s part. The husband was willing to forgive and work on their marriage but there were a lot of issues to deal with. It was not an easy situation, but my husband and I were willing to walk the journey with them and we invested a lot of time and energy because we genuinely loved them and wanted to see their marriage and family saved. We spent countless hours, sometimes all hours of the night and day ministering to them during this volatile situation. At one point something happened and I realized I needed to share some hard truths with the wife about her behavior that was deceptive, selfish, and harmful to her marriage and children. If she didn’t change, the consequences would be dire. Well, to put it mildly, she did NOT like hearing what I had to say. She was mad at me, but in reality, I know she was mad that the truth exposed her junk. None of us like our junk exposed, but it’s the Light that exposes the darkness and empowers us to walk in freedom. Anyway, she wasn’t the same towards me after that, and to be honest, it hurt since I had invested my time and heart so fully to help her. Still, I had to give it to the Lord knowing what mattered most was that I was obedient to Him in speaking truth to her.
Hebrews 4:12 describes the Word of God (the truth) as a double-edged sword piercing our very soul and spirit and even the joints and marrow of our bones. Ummm… that’s a pretty painful description. There are times when we speak the truth that we won’t receive a “Well, thank you so much for telling me that.” This is because the truth pricks our conscience, exposes our junk, cuts across our fleshly desires, sometimes makes us angry, and causes us to face things we’d probably rather not. BUT…as much as the truth hurts, it ALWAYS sets us free.
I watched as this wife wrestled with God after that, but eventually, she chose to make the changes needed and her marriage was saved and is still going strong several years later. I never got a “thank you” or a “You were right.” but the true reward was the fruit of that truth I spoke to her. A marriage and family were saved. Destinies were preserved. Speaking the truth is not about us, but about loving others enough to fight for God’s destiny for their lives. What if I was unwilling to speak the truth to her because I cared more about her approval? I could’ve made an excuse that I did all I could do, but the truth was, if I ignored God and kept silent, the destruction of her marriage and family would be on me.
When God calls us to speak the truth we must obey. Jesus said to Pilate,”… For this cause I was born, and for this, cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice (John 18:37).”
Jesus was a truth-bearer and as God’s children, we too are called to be truth-bearers.
God’s truth, the Word, sets us free from the constraints and destruction of this world and empowers us to walk in the victory Jesus paid for with His life. Being a truth-bearer is not only our privilege but our responsibility. Somewhere along the way, Christianity got tainted with the world’s faulty belief that speaking the truth is wrong or mean. Yet, acceptance of everything and anything is NOT love. Lying to someone or withholding the truth from them is NOT love. It’s a cop-out. I certainly didn’t get set free by someone patting me on the back and telling me it was ok to stay in the pit of destruction I was in. I’d actually be dead right now. It was the truth that set me free. It was someone loving me enough to help me to confront my sin, my weaknesses, and my willful flesh so that I could step out of bondage and onto the beautiful path of life God had for me.
We’re accountable for the truth we speak or don’t speak to others (Ephesians 4:25). When we’re unwilling to speak the truth we’re choosing our own comfort and the approval of others, rather than the life and destiny of another. Speaking the truth isn’t always easy. It will cost us, but the Bible is very clear that being a disciple of Christ costs us (Luke 14:25-27) As followers of Christ we must count the cost. I’ve never been afraid to speak my mind but speaking the truth to someone that may reject me used to give me major anxiety. Then something changed inside me. As I grew in my relationship with God, my love for others increased. When we truly know God’s love, we’ll love others and be willing to speak the truth that sets them free and empowers them to walk in God’s best for their lives (1 John 4:19).
Truth bearers are motivated by LOVE
Love is what enables us to speak truth boldly, powerfully, and effectively. Truth spoken in love carries a powerful anointing. Truth delivered from a heart filled with God’s love destroys lies and breaks the yoke of bondage. Ephesians 4:15 instructs us to speak the truth in love so that we can grow into mature believers. Some people think this means “sugar-coating” the truth. Sugar-coating the truth is a nice way of excusing the fact that we’re lying. But there’s nothing nice about lying. Satan is the father of all lies and lies are designed to destroy us.
On the other hand, blasting people with the truth is just as wrong as sugar-coating the truth. 2 Timothy 2:24-25 talks about our heart condition when gently correcting a person so they can be led to repentance. If you take joy in correcting someone or speaking a difficult truth to them, your heart is probably wrong and you shouldn’t be doing it. Grow in your love-walk with God first so His love for others abounds in and through you. When we speak the truth it should always be with the person’s best interest at heart. It should be with the desire of seeing them walk into God’s blessings and reach their highest potential in Christ. While speaking the truth may not always be easy, God’s love will compel us to do it anyway. Love will cause us to care more about God’s best for their lives, than our own comfort (2 Cor 5:14).
Truth-bearers walk in truth
Another key to being a powerful and effective truth-bearer is dealing with hypocrisy in our own lives. The truth that sets people free and carries the greatest anointing will come from someone walking in truth in their own lives. This doesn’t mean we’re perfect because we’ll never be perfect. We’re ALL works in progress until Jesus comes back. What this does mean is that we’re willing to receive truth, correction, discipline, and instruction in our own lives. We’re continually allowing the truth to do its deep work in us. Matthew 7:1-3 tells us to take the plank out of our own eye before we try to help someone with theirs. This is so important because the more we walk in truth and become free, the greater the anointing we have to bear truth to others and see them become free.
Humble yourself before the Lord regularly. David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 is a great prayer to pray. “Lord, search my heart and show me if there is anything in me that I need to deal with.” If this is truly your heart, the Lord will reveal those areas to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. This kind of life, filled with truth and walking in truth is possible only with Him. We need the Holy Spirit, the one who leads us into all truth, to help us every step of the way and He will! (John 16:13)
Truth-bearers run with other truth-bearers
A truth bearer will run with other truth-bearers. Hebrews 12:1 calls us to run this race called life with endurance. Running with other truth-bearers will enable us to do so. Iron sharpens iron! Surround yourself with people that speak the truth so that you can live a life free of deception and be surrounded by people who encourage you to grow in your walk with God. There are some people in my life that I love, but I know they’ll just tell me what I want to hear because they either mistakenly think that’s love or they’re more concerned about their own comfort. In the past, I used to be drawn to them because they told me what I wanted to hear. I didn’t even consciously realize this until the Holy Spirit showed me. They were the ones I would run to when I was wrong and wanted to feel justified in my actions because they would agree with me and make me feel ok. But I wasn’t ok and I needed someone to tell me the truth. We’ll have many people in our lives, but our inner circle should be filled with truth-bearers – People who love God and you enough to tell you the truth. And very often these truth-bearers will not only tell you the truth, they’ll walk the journey with you because they want God’s best for your life. I thank God for these people in my life that hold me accountable and that cheer me on in my faith walk. We all need this.
Friend, my prayer for you as you answer the call to be a truth-bearer is the same as I pray for myself. “Lord help my friends to know You more. Increase their capacity to receive Your love. Fill every empty place and heal every broken area so that their lives are filled to the overflow with Your love. Help them to walk in truth in every area of their lives. Open their eyes to any blind spots so that they may be free. As they grow more in their love relationship with you, let their love for others increase. Stir up a passion in their heart to see others walk in freedom and experience Your goodness as they do. Fill their hearts and mouths with Your truth wherever they go and let others see Your heart in them as they do. Anoint them to be truth-bearers that pave the way for others to walk in freedom. And as they run this race, surround them with truth-bearers who love You and them enough to speak truth into their lives and run the race with them. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness and your grace. In Jesus Name, Amen.
