Love Requires Truth

Ask almost anyone what a good relationship is based on, and they will say “honesty.” Truth and love go hand in hand, a principle revealed in God’s character, as He is both truth and love. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ " Jesus does not say that He has or knows the truth, but that He is the truth, a very bold and definitive statement, in which He says the same about love, 1 John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Truth cannot exist without love, and love cannot exist without truth. Yet, in our current culture, Christians are condemned as “hateful bigots” by those who support and participate in homosexuality because of their refusal to affirm such acts. Thus, the question arises, should Christians simply accept and support the decisions of those who practice homosexuality, or should they oppose it?

If a parent stumbled upon their child playing with a lighter, the parent would obviously take the lighter away from the child and put it where they could not get it. Now, the parent did not take the lighter because she hates her child and wants him to have no fun, but because she loves him and wants to protect him. Homosexuality is similar to this situation, but on a larger scale. Homosexuality is dangerous because it is a sin, which is clearly stated within multiple Scripture passages (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-28). As with all other sins, homosexual relations are to be recognized as sin, repented from, and avoided. Many today practice homosexuality and do not recognize it as a sin and do not repent. Instead, they push people to affirm their lifestyle.

Unfortunately, many Christians have caved to pressure, and in the name of “love” have affirmed those living in sin, whether homosexuality, transgenderism, and other sex-related perversions. They rationalize by saying, “It isn’t worse than any other sin,” and this reasoning is technically correct. Yet, it isn’t a better sin either. As with all other sin, it must be repented from. You cannot be a Christian and a lover of lies. You cannot be a Christian and hater of people. You cannot be a Christian and a homosexual. Christians who affirm the homosexual lifestyle are not loving, but are hating. They are pushing another person over a stumbling block to selfishly receive the praise and affection of the homosexual community, Matthew 18:2 “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” To truly love someone, you must be willing to speak truth to them, even at the cost of persecution. If someone dies to protect another from violence, it is seen as love. So why does our culture recognize cowardice as sin? Because our culture finds satisfaction in sin, not in the truth and glory of God.

However, while love needs truth, truth also needs love. We as believers cannot look at those struggling in sin with scorn or contempt. Are we not just like them, except for the fact that we have received grace by the works of Christ beyond our own? Christ ate with those who had not yet turned to God, He gave them His time and companionship. He loved them so that He might speak the truth to them. We must do the same, for He loved us while we were still sinners. This is the hope and truth of the Gospel.

Will we be hated for speaking the truth? Yes, we will, but Christ said that His followers should expect to be hated, Matthew 10:22 “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Do not lie to others so that they will, in their sin, think you love them, but tell them the truth in genuine, kind love, so that if by God’s grace their eyes are opened, they will see that you were there for them all along. We must lift others up toward God, not push them over a stumbling block.