It Won't Hurt Him, I Love Him

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,... Ephesians 4:15

She awoke in the early a.m. Her baby was sick, and it was time for his medicine. In her early morning fogginess she reached for the wrong bottle and gave this to her child. At first she was horrified. She had given an adult dose of a totally inappropriate medicine to a tiny child.

Then she thought, "It won't hurt him. I love him." Let's hope this never happens.

It is just as wrong to think that "loving" can mask error in our doctrine.

My wife's happiness was marred when her mother was caught up in a cult religion. Her mother was a kind lady, with nothing but good intentions. But she was terribly wrong in her doctrine. All her love, and ours, could not pull her out of this religion.

Hours before she died, she was visited by an old preacher, near retirement. But his kind instruction showed her the right way. Her last words to us were, "I'm back in the fold. I'll see you in the rapture."

Love had been there all along. But it was not enough. She needed the truth and she got it.

It has been said of the above verse from Ephesians, that "truth" precedes "love". This may be significant, but the lesson is that we need truth as well as love. Sometimes trying to be a "truth cat" can be a lonely calling. People will say to you, "Where's your love?" As if trying to give out truth, and asking people to "Look before they shoot." was not an act of love.

If someone were to bake you a nice cake, you would rightly consider this a loving thing to do. Wouldn't it be nice if the same feeling would be extended towards those who bring us truth? After all, it takes a long time to get the recipe right and to bake the "truth cake".