Week 3 - To Speak or Not to Speak

To Speak or Not to Speak

Speaking the truth in love is essential for Christians. 
1 Peter 3:15 calls us to always be ready to give a defense for our faith, but to do so with gentleness and respect. 
The world resists truth, preferring comfort in sin over the truth in conviction, yet our purpose is to awaken people to what is true and loving. Truth doesn’t just belong to ourselves; it’s to be shared with everyone, even when it is difficult or is being met with opposition. 
We share this truth because everyone bears God’s image, and we should love the things that God loves (us).  1 John 4:16-21 and Matthew 5:43-44 remind us that perfect love casts out fear, compelling us to act in truth.  True love involves truth, for we cannot share truth without love and cannot share love without truth.  With all that we are, we must love God and others in truth.  We cannot do this alone, however, as this requires honesty, courage, and grace, whose source is from God. 

To help understand, here is a good analogy:
Christian truth is like warning someone of a cliff ahead.
We are commanded to speak, because danger is real.
But we are also commanded to speak with gentleness and respect, because the person matters.

Read these Bible passages: 

1 Peter 3:15 

1 John 4:16-21 

Matthew 5:43-44 

Proverbs 3:5 

Acts 1:8 

Ezekiel 3:16-18

Questions: 

Who is truth for? 

Why should we speak up about it?  What are the consequences of not speaking up? 

Do you feel nervous about speaking up?  How can we become more confident in speaking up about it?

Why is it so important to speak about truth in love?

Why is confessing your sins to God and to each other something that you should do?