Is it always right to tell the truth?
Part of the Truth series
It might sound like a question with an obvious answer, but the truth might surprise you. You might say; “According to Scripture, it is always right to speak the truth. That nails the answer then, surely?” Not quite!
Ephesians 4:15 says that we should “speak the truth in love”. In LOVE. The answer, then, is that it is always right to speak the truth in love. Those last two words make all the difference; they qualify the statement and add a condition. Further, those two words completely change the statement from always to only; it is ONLY right to speak the truth in love.
By now you are no doubt realising that you can speak the truth other than in love. The truth can be used as a weapon when speaking in anger. The truth can be used to humiliate someone in front of others. The truth can also be used to expose someone to others through gossip. And, when you speak the truth in a certain way it can be used to manipulate or deceive people. Scripture warns us not to engage in these ways many times and for good reason.
Truth is powerful both to build up and to pull down. James speaks more generally about the tongue but the same is, perhaps, even more true when speaking about truth. And Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death”. How much more so when speaking the truth?
Speaking the truth is always right, but wisdom and righteousness help us to wield the truth in the right way. Even when we speak the truth in love we can still be destructive with it if we do it without wisdom and righteousness.
Sometimes I think we forget just how powerful truth is. So when we come to wield it, like a sword, we do so inappropriately and inadvertently wound people with it. Truth is beautiful but also dangerous and we should handle it with the care and respect it deserves and requires.
Scripture, which is truth, steers us in the right direction. Jesus, who is the Truth, and His Spirit - the Spirit of Truth - will guide us in all truth. If we are in the truth we are better equipped to handle and wield the truth.