Speaking Truth

Obadiah went to meet Ahab and report to him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is that you, you destroyer of Israel?" - 1 Kings 18:16-17

Ahab was the evil king of Israel during the service of God's prophet, Elijah. Though he was one of the kings responsible for Israel's slide into wickedness and destruction, Ahab preferred to blame Elijah rather than accept any personal responsibility for his troubles.

It is a lot easier to deflect responsibility for the damage that wrong actions bring, than to repent of those actions and truly change. This is our natural tendency and it is important to understand, whether we are the one in need of change or just the person "blessed" with the responsibility to point it out.

As Christ-followers, we will on occasion find ourselves in a position to serve as the messenger of truth to someone who needs to hear it (if you like this role, you just might be a "Pharisee," but that's another post). As the occasional "messenger," it is important to realize that many people don't want to hear the truth, at least when it involves change! We normally want to be affirmed, even when we're heading in the wrong direction.

In spite of this fact, we should still speak God's truth, even if it is rejected, but always in love. We should also receive that same divine truth, even when we are the ones wanting to reject it, because God is truth as well as love.

There is nothing so agonizing to the fine skin of vanity as the application of a rough truth. - Robert Bulwer-Lytton