The Thorny Truth
Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
So then, putting
away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,
for we are
members of one another. Ephesians
4:25
The truth is a thorny rose. I
heard this statement time and again from my pastor growing up. As a tween, I
couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of this statement. Yet, in the past few days, these
words resounded in my head as I witnessed conflicts in two different
environments.
The truth is a thorny rose.
In each instance, two people
presented their opinion/perspective on a topic. The conversation escalated to
conflict when the people involved shifted from making a statement to hearing
the other person’s viewpoint as a challenge to their own. A simple opinion
morphs into a defense; not just a defense of an idea, but a defense of the
person’s being.
But what does this mean if we
hold fast to the reality that we are members of one another?
How does it alter the way we speak
truth to our neighbors?
Often, in our attempts to speak
truth to another, we engage them as an “other,” as a person distinct from ourselves.
Yet as people of the Risen Lord, we are members of the body of Christ. To speak
truth to another is to speak truth to ourselves.
Like holding a rose, encountering
truth and beauty often stems from pain. But if we remember the person we speak to
is part of who we are in Christ Jesus it just may alter how we hold a thorny rose
with them.
Prayer: Eternal Truth, you immerse
us in the pain and beauty of life together. Guide our interactions with one another.
Temper our anger and enable us to speak the truth with your grace and mercy. Amen.
Jennifer M. Manis
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