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Would you consider yourself a person of grace and truth, or a person of just truth? What is the difference? Find out by listening to today’s podcast to see what happens when we have one without the other. Remember to catch up on last week’s episode here first.
Grace and Truth Podcast Outline
- Dissection on Relationships
- Applying Grace
- Applying Truth
- The Marriage of Grace and Truth
Scripture Focus:
Relationships are hard. It doesn’t matter whether it’s family, friends, or coworkers, it can be challenging. One thing about relationships is that they require time, energy, grace, and love. When disagreements arise, and they will, we can be so intent on wanting to be right, that we can damage the relationship even more.
God tells us in his word: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, NLT) We shouldn’t be foolish, and pretend that the truth doesn’t matter. When we ignore the truth, we train our minds and bodies to slowly downplay the cues they tell us that signify something is wrong. Only applying the truth can also bring in legalism. Because God gives us grace, we are able to extend grace to others. Only applying grace without truth and boundaries leads to being taken advantage of, an out of control situation, and the other person constantly pressing the envelope to see how far they can go. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.” (Ephesians 4:14-15, BSB)
There are individuals in my own life who have hurt me dearly. I cannot ignore the revelation of truth that healing has brought me. At the same time, if I focused only on the truth of these situations, it would make my heart bitter. The truth is, we are all broken individuals, and since we are all broken individuals, we all have sin in our lives. If it weren’t for God’s mercy in eliminating certain people and things from my life, I could very well have gone down that path. Offering grace and truth to people doesn’t mean restoration of the relationship. It could mean grieving what is no longer there, acceptance, and the ability to move on.
Dear God,
We thank you for the relationships that you have blessed us with. We pray that you would give us discernment when it comes to applying grace and truth in difficult situations. Please help us to understand that we are all broken individuals in need of a Savior.
In Your name we pray,
Amen
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