When we are speaking the truth in love, we are not putting someone down nicely—we are elevating someone brilliantly.
We are saying to people, “You don’t need to be doing that because this is who you are.” You speak the truth in love to empower them. You make them want to become that person.
~ Graham Cooke
And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him Who is The Head, into Christ, from Whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Ephesians 4
Oh beloved, it is true.
One of the worst forms of pride is for us to falsely self-abase. Oh yes, overt pride and rebellion are no good either. But, we are not looking for a middle ground between these two things. They are both sides of a terrible coin – we should have no desire to spend. For, it has no lasting worth.
No, humility is not a stance. Humility is simply “taking stock” of who we are. It is not that we look at a few of our traits or aspects of our personality. It is much deeper. We need to go on, and right into the true identity of what we are.
Each of us, once we know Him, know what that is. We are called to something. We are called to go where He sends us. We are called to breathe His Air, and share His Vision. This will play itself out in myriad ways. We may clean toilets. Or, we may lead nations. The “what” is much less important than the “who” we are, as we do it.
This fool of a writer was built for something that I never really expected, and am often ashamed of, somewhere deep down in my inner man. And, as this identity comes out, I find myself hemming and hawing, and trying to explain myself away to everyone around me as the real me comes out.
I am, because HE has made me this: A warrior-poet. I am a servant-prince of a a vast portion of His Kingdom. My reach (because HE has established the boundaries) is the deserts of the world. My influences is that which will reach and bring 1,000,000 more similar types of brothers and sisters to Life in The Kingdom.
Can we see it?
This passage is calling us to something that is FAR, FAR, FAR beyond a simple membership in local church body and getting a bit involved in things. No, read it again. Speak the truth to yourself in the Love of Christ.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE… You beloved (and this fool of a writer) are to attain such unity with Him and with each other that we are actually – yes, read it – measure up to Jesus. And, if this does not rock us back on our spiritual heels, we are missing the point.
However, the Bible is Divine Law. It will stand forever. G_d is making us into people who are powerful beyond measure – just like Jesus. And, for us to speak anything less about anyone truly in the Body of Christ, is to miss the command to speak to each other in the Language of The Trinity: Love.
So, are you doubting what He has called you to be? You know, but are afraid? May i speak to you in Love? Stop doubting. Fear not. Tonight is your night. Move into who HE is calling and making you to be. Stand in Christ, and move into your destiny.
My identity as Abba’s child is not an abstraction or a tap dance into religiosity. It is the core truth of my existence. Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality, the way I respond to people and their life situations. How I treat my brothers and sisters from day to day, whether they be Caucasian, African, Asian, or Hispanic; how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street; how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike; how I deal with ordinary people in their ordinary unbelief on an ordinary day will speak the truth of who I am more poignantly than the pro-life sticker on the bumper of my car. We are not for life simply because we are warding off death. We are sons and daughters of the Most High and maturing in tenderness to the extent that we are for others—all others—to the extent that no human flesh is strange to us, to the extent that we can touch the hand of another in love, to the extent that for us there are no “others.”
~Brennan Manning
