A Thought For The Week Of January 20

"... speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him Who is the Head, that is Christ." (Ephesians 4:15) Sometimes in the modern world truth seems to be in short supply. I suppose there's always going to be some dishonesty - and much of it is innocent. Sometimes we're dishonest because we want to spare another person's feelings, after all, and there would be little benefit to the truth. Why would we need to tell someone, "I hated that present you got me for my birthday." Let's just say we liked it and move on. No harm done; no feelings hurt. But some dishonesty is more insidious. It's deliberate deception, usually for the purpose of gaining something for ourselves. We make promises we have no intention of keeping because we think we'll benefit from it. But when we tell those types of lies, they take on a life of their own, and they can start to take over our lives. Sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish between the truth and the lie we're living out. Winston Churchill once said that "a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." Lies can take over. God asks us to speak the truth - but always in love. Especially, we're asked to share - always in love - the truth about Jesus, the Saviour of the world; the grace of God who came for us. Jesus is the ultimate truth; in a way, he's the only truth that really matters. Churchill might have been right - a lie may get halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on. But the good news is that a lie can't get anywhere that Jesus isn't already present. Our responsibility is to share that truth in love with those we encounter. Have a great week!