14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[a] from the Father, full of grace andtruth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[b] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
john 1:14-17
that verse.
i was able to relate to it because i hear some people say to me things like, "well you're so graceful to them and doesn't want to offend them by telling them the truth". this makes it seem as though grace and truth are two different things when, in fact, they are one and the same. you cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
sometimes, we want to tell another person the "truth" and we want to do it in a way that would "touch" him or in a way that would really make him feel guilty and embarrassed because, we are the bearer of truth after all! there is also reasoning from us that says, "if we always coat the truth with nice and gooey words, how can he/she learn"?!
we forgot that it is not our job to "convict" that person. it is the Holy Spirit's job.
this verse reminded me that grace & truth are married together. the only reason we want to "correct" or "tell" a person about his failings or weakness is because we want to pull him back and want him to grow in his relationship with Jesus. nothing more. we don't tell somebody about their mistakes just to satisfy our pride and our own ego and rub it in their face that we are in the right and they need to come up to where we are because they are in the wrong.
"we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak"
romans 15:1
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| you guys, i love doing journals & piping hot milk tea in the mornings! |
