Fearing Truth

As I was texting my husband tonight and telling him how silly I felt for creating a blog, I realized this may unintentionally become a form of immersion therapy for me. Because one of my greatest fears happens to be publicizing my thoughts, putting those thoughts out into the grand internet is similar to an ophidiophobe jumping into a pool of snakes.

While many people leave their coworkers wishing earplugs were handed out with their uniforms, there are also those of us who have the opposite problem. I naturally tend to be a proponent of “the fewer words, the better,” but sometimes, I think we avoid issues, not because it is better, but because it is easier, and we are afraid.

Too often we sugar-coat our thoughts and tiptoe our way around in conversations, but I never saw Christ act that way, and I don’t see that quality in the great influencers of our time either. Christ told the truth firmly, but lovingly. He used stories to bring his thoughts to life, and he always addressed the heart of the issue instead of the surface. He wasn’t argumentative, but instead, he was grounded in his beliefs and knew no one could threaten them, so there was no reason to get worked up when others disagreed.

If only we could enter our conversations in a similar way, not being afraid to speak the truth because we know that truth is grounded in something much stronger than ourselves. I have watched this work in my own life. When I am absolutely certain about what I believe, I won’t get upset when someone challenges it. Because when truth meets a lie, truth puts the lie in a choke-hold and sends him to the ground. There is no need for me to intervene on its behalf.

The problem comes when a person doesn’t want to hear the truth and blocks his mind to it. This causes him to become angry and defensive, and usually that hurts, especially when it’s from a friend. But know this: loving someone doesn’t always mean trying to build a hedge around her happiness. Truly loving someone means you will do your best to help her become a better person, and sometimes that requires you to speak hard truths into her life.

We don’t need our friends to pat us on the back and cheer us on when we’re going in the wrong direction. I don’t want a friend to stand back and watch me happily dig my own grave because she is fearful of hurting my feelings.

However, before we go spewing our views out at every John Smith on the street, remember truth is most meaningful when it comes from someone who has first shown love. Christ healed and cared for the people before telling them to change their ways.

Lysa Terkeurst describes this in her book, Unglued, “When someone hasn’t taken the time to invest words of encouragement in my life before offering some sort of constructive criticism, it doesn’t feel so constructive.”

As we all know, there are people who are more concerned with pointing out the flaws in others than actually investing in them. This is not the love and truth I’m talking about. If someone can’t see the beautiful creation God made you to be and only chooses to condemn and not build up, then I would put in those earplugs, because that voice isn’t worth your time.

So last night, as I was wondering if I should wade into these deep waters of apprehension, I pulled open the Bible app on my phone, and the verse of the day was Proverbs 29:25 (CEVB), “Don’t fall into the trap of being a coward–trust the Lord, and you will be safe.”

I would rather face my fears with the Lord than live a second-rate life of cowardice any day.