“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians. 4:11-16
Through my years of ministry work, sometimes I have been so desirous to speak the truth of the Bible that I have been hard and lacked love. Other times, I have tried to be so loving I have perhaps neglected to be bold enough with speaking the truth. The reality is that those of us who follow the Lord Jesus Christ are called to share the Good News of Jesus and to help people find and follow Him with others, and we are to do this with TRUTH IN LOVE.
May the Lord fill those of us who follow Him with fresh fillings of His Spirit, may He lead us by His Spirit through His Word, and may He gives all of us courage, boldness, and love to go with it!
And may we remember day by day to humble ourselves before Him and others and to walk in His truth and love for the glory of Christ, AMEN!