Loving And Truthful Communication - Part 2
"...we do need the Lord’s grace and guidance to balance love with truth, and truth with love, as one without the other can lead to an imbalance that is sinful."
Last week, we began a short series looking at the importance of loving and truthful communication and how it relates to us as church piano players.
In the first point, we were reminded that, as Christians, we have a responsibility to communicate with love and truthfulness.
This foundational principle, taken from Ephesians 4:15-16, clearly highlights that this applies to every believer, not just a select few.
Before we continue, let's look at the passage again...
[Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV] 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Continuing with this week's post, then, there are at least 2 fruits of loving and truthful communication, which we also see in these verses.
Increasing spiritual maturity (becoming more like Christ) - v15
Increasing unity and edification (being built up in Christ) - v16
We can see then that as believers, it’s important that our communication is balanced with both truth and love.
It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it - because you can’t really have loving unity and people working well together without loving and truthful communication.
Now, we do need the Lord’s grace and guidance to balance love with truth, and truth with love, as one without the other can lead to an imbalance that is sinful.
When we think of the “love” side of things, at times we can lean more towards doing what a person wants or what makes them feel good. However, when love is balanced with truth, we see that love is ultimately doing what is best for a person, though it's not always in line with what they want.
Philippians 1:9-10 highlights this truth differently, saying...
[Philippians 1:9-10 ESV] 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
These verses highlight the connection there with a love that also comes with knowledge and all discernment. And that is all about walking in truth, so that we can rightly approve that which is excellent.
For example, if you had to bring a gentle criticism to a fellow musician who was doing something in their playing that was a real distraction to the congregation, they might not like hearing that at first and might think you're not being very loving. However, in time, they will realise it was the most loving thing to do, that it was discerning of you, and it was what they actually needed, even though they didn’t really want that criticism at the time.
Then, as we consider the “truth” side of things, it can be tempting to speak truth to another person, because, after all, “it’s the truth”. In this case, though, the manner in which we do that is detrimental to their receiving that truth, because it lacks love and compassion.
When truth is coupled with love, it’s like the spoon of honey that makes the medicine go down a little easier. We can see why both truth and love need to be in balance with one another.
It's important to remember, though, that none of us will get this right all the time. We will be imbalanced, and we will make mistakes in our communication. That’s okay, though, if our heart's desire is to grow and to communicate more and more in a Christ-like manner, as God gives us His grace and the enabling power of His Holy Spirit.
So, don’t think it’s all about you doing this in your own strength, because it isn't it! Remember, you have a Saviour who knows your weakness, and He is always there to help and enable you.
Next week, we'll continue looking at some more truths relating to loving and truthful communication.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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