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What do you think the lecturer means when she says “loving one another is based on truth”? Why is this an important concept to understand?
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It’s important to understand because truth doesn’t always tell a person what they want to hear. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to hear, but is necessary for walking in righteousness and even necessary for salvation! Society wants to tell us that “tolerance” is love. This may be politically correct, but it is not scripturally correct. In fact, it can be harmful to a person’s soul. To love a person is to share with them what God says and to say it in a gracious manner. Society also want to tell us that living “an abundant life” means materialistically abundant, or quenching our desires. We must refer to God’s truth, which defines an abundant life in a God-honoring way. The truth is convicting, and some people may not like that…. But as they grow in their relationship with Christ, they will come to love biblical conviction, because within it, lies truth. There are many other things the world will tell us about what love is, and there are even many different doctrines that will explain things away differently. If we are holding to Scripture, we are able to know and share what the truth is so as not to be deceived by what the world may tell us. It’s important to be grounded in the Word for the sake of the next generations whom we are raising and training up.
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I think Dr. Ellen means that it is not really loving to just ignore or not confront statements that do not align with a Christian worldview. As Christian educators, we can still explain what the Bible says about issues and be loving even if the students disagree. Our goal should not be to win a debate, but to speak the truth in love, gently but also boldly. So truth addresses misconceptions and errors. We do not just smile and nod.
It is important to understand this concept because if we think loving a person means we always agree, then we will either not confront our students’ unbiblical beliefs, or we will confront them with so much persuasion and force, that we will lose the love. -
When the lecturer communicated, “loving one another is based on truth.” She was pointing to important biblical truth that in summation says because God is love and because he loves us we are to love others. Also, she was pointing to the fact that we need a foundation that is built on truth and that truth for Christians is the centrality of Scripture. Because scripture is our foundation of truth we know how we to respond to our neighbors. Lastly, without the the centrality of scripture as our truth we can quickly create new truths that no longer center us on God’s word. Misleading us and others as educators.
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When the lecturer says “loving one another is based on truth”, she means that in order to love someone truly and to the maximum that we can, we have to model our love off of God’s love and His Truth. Our society tells us that we shouldn’t get hung up on doctrine, but just love everyone. We should love people despite their sin, but in order to love someone fully we also need to recognize and help correct their sin. If we truly love someone we won’t just look over their sins, but go to them and encourage them to repent and cleanse the sin away because this is what Truth (scripture) tells us to do.
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We are inherently selfish people. When we are born, we cry to be fed, we cry to be comforted, we cry to be changed, we cry when we are tired. As we grow, we don’t have to learn to take toys from another child, spit out food we don’t like, fuss and pout when we don’t get our way. And, I am just going to bypass the adolescent years :). But, wait, I really can’t, because as adults, many of us still have an adolescent mindset. Isn’t everything still about me? What I want, what I need, what I like, what I don’t like, etc. etc. etc. Loving one another is based on truth. ABSOLUTELY.
God is Love, Gods word is Truth, all good things come from the Father. Only with His Grace and Mercy, can we as people Love one another. Loving another person is difficult. People will fail us, they will let us down, we can fall into a difficult situation if we put all of our faith and hope in people. We are to put our faith and hope in God, and by doing so, love people. Jesus loved people, even the ones we may feel are the most unlovable.
If we are going to love our students the way Christ loved, then we must be grounded in the truth.
