Good morning!
It is a new week and a new day and I’m so glad you could join me as we continue our journey toward renewing our minds and improving our self-discipline. If you’re just joining me, you can read my article, “Morning and Evening: A New Self Discipline Journey” to learn more about why I am doing this, and how this may benefit you as well.
This week we are going to focus each day on speaking the truth in love. Each day this week I will provide affirmations, scriptures, and daily challenges regarding this topic. Next week will be a new one!
With that said, let’s start our morning together!
BREATHING EXERCISE
Before we begin let us take some deep breaths to calm our mind and prepare us for this mornings discipline.
MUSIC FOR A NEW DAY
I personally like to have some soft music in the background, so if that’s something you like as well below you will find a song you can play for the duration of our time together.
PRAYER For Speaking Truth in Love
Now that we’re calm, let us transition to a time of prayer. Over the next few minutes you can pray on your own or feel free to use the following prayer:
Dear Lord,
I know that Your word commands us as Christians to speak the truth in love. This task isn’t always easy because we might fear rejection from those You have called us to reach. I ask You to empower me with Your grace and that Your Spirit would endow me with boldness. Help me to renew my mind with Your Word.
Thank You for the leaders You have placed in my life who help me rightly divide the Scriptures so that I am not deceived. Truth matters because souls matter to You, and You want to see the Body of Christ walking in truth and love so we can shine brightly for the world.
Let them see Your truth shining brightly in our lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
A Prayer for Boldness to Speak the Truth in Love | crosswalk.com
AFFIRMATIONS for Speaking Truth in Love
Here are a few affirmations for this morning that you can put in your pocket and carry with you throughout your day.
As you read through them, repeat each one out loud at least three times before moving to the next. Take your time. Close your eyes and say them to yourself as well. Let these words sink into your heart and mind this morning:
- When I speak truth I will speak it in love.
- My actions speak louder than my words.
- Today I am an active and compassionate listener.
- I will bring healing, and not hurt, with my words.
SCRIPTURES For Speaking Truth in Love
As Christians, our affirmations should be rooted in the strength and power of God who empowers us and strengthens us to face every trial and every day (both good and bad).
Here are some scriptures that further support the affirmations we just spoke to ourselves. Again, repeat each one three times out loud before moving to the next one. Take your time. Maybe try to commit these to memory as well:
- Ephesians 4:15, “We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Amen!)
- John 13:34, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
- 1 John 3:18, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”
- 1 Peter 1:22, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…”
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Our challenge today is this: choose your words carefully.
Even if something you have to say is true, the words you choose to communicate that truth can have an unintended negative consequence.
For example, I recently found myself frustrated about how some folks respond to others who consider themselves in the middle of a “deconstruction” phase in their faith. The response I was addressing was this, “If you leave the church because of people then your faith was in people and not God.”
There may be some truth to this statement, but the reality is when people hear this they are instantly turned off to anything else you may say, even if it is true and possibly even of value.
I then suggested that the response could be worded a bit differently to foster dialogue and be able to dig a bit deeper into why a person may find themselves where they are. My suggested response was:
Can we explore what that means to you? I want to hear your story and the journey you took to get here. Perhaps there’s something buried in that experience that we could unpack together so I can get a better understanding of where you are, and in the process I can learn more about what leads people to this kind of place.
Do you see the difference? (besides one being longer than the other)
The biggest difference is that the first response is unnecessarily aggressive and generalizes a person’s experience, while the second response acknowledges that the experience is unique and invites the person into a sincere dialogue to learn more.
So today, don’t just throw truth out there hoping that your presentation of the truth doesn’t matter. Choose your words carefully and wisely with the intent of communicating truth but also keeping a relational door open.
Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from the late pastor, teacher, and author Timothy Keller, who once said:
Friendship is a deep oneness that develops when two people, speaking the truth in love to one another, journey together to the same horizon.
Pastor Timothy Keller
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