Apr 16

Is all this talk about truth merely intellectual? Despite all the disclaimers to the contrary that have been voiced in these devotional talks, does the whole issue of truth seem somehow not relevant to your daily life? Why spend so much time talking about it here?

The matter of truth is extremely relevant to daily life. It is not a subject merely for philosophy students in a university. How do we know this? Because when the apostle John writes about truth--and he writes about it a lot--he connects it with love. And he states plainly that God is love (1 John 4:16).

There is a strong connection between truth and love. In 1 John 3:19, John says that there is a way to know that we value truth so much that it can even be said that it owns us, that we belong to it. What is that way? How can we know? That question is answered in the verses immediately preceding. And those verses talk about love.

"Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (v. 18).

Once again, we see in Scripture the necessity for faith to be demonstrated and proven by actions that validate that faith. The same can be said for truth. If a life is not lived in accord with the truth of God, then truth remains merely an intellectual idea. But when a life overflows with love in action, then the truth of God in Jesus Christ is demonstrated to the world.

Scripture for today: 1 John 3:16-24
Thought for today: The truthfulness of God's Word is judged by the world according to how I live out that truth.
Prayer for today: Help me, Lord. I do not always live out your truth, and I know that that has terrible consequences for the lost you came to save. Help me to love and live the truth.

APR 16