Love Is the Underbelly of Truth

“If truth is not undergirded by love, it makes the possessor of that truth obnoxious and the truth repulsive.”

~Ravi Zacharias

There are always three colours of relationship response. We can put these as submissive responses, aggressive responses, and bridging these both, assertive responses. We can also see these as responses of too much love with not enough emphasis on the truth, not enough love with too much focus on the truth, or the perfection of just the right blend of love and truth for the given situation.

Whilst an overbalance on love produces relationship outcomes of virulent acceptance, many of which can actually be bad, for instance, the acceptance of abuse or neglect, an overbalance on truth produces arrogance and propagates ignorance, which is distasteful.

‘Too Much Truth’ Is Not the Truth

There can be no such thing as too much truth, just truth lacking in love.

A truth without love is an inadequate truth, because truth must be undergirded by, and in relationship with, love. Such a loveless truth is deluded and cannot, therefore, any longer be called truth.

The trouble these days, and throughout time, is we determine our own truth without continually checking with God; without continually nurturing the awareness of what really ‘is’, in reality. Truth such as this, that isn’t checked, is ill-informed. Instead, we are cautioned to check the validity of our truth, as our truth is highly subjective. It always will be unless it is checked; unless we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the wrong in our truth.

This is a blessing for the Christian—who has taken possession of the Presence of the Holy Spirit within them. They are searched by that Spirit. And, if they are truly possessed by the Spirit of God, they will be blessed when they find the truth, but cursed when they deny or stop searching for the truth.

In relationships we must always be prepared to receive the truth that we may be wrong. We are often more wrong, or at least partially wrong, than we think we are.

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We could go so far as to say that the person who values truth over love is no Christian at all, for they forget, or refuse to see, that the truth falls sharply away without love. The truth never favours one’s opinion; the truth is beyond opinion; the truth can only apply in universal ways.

If we submit to God, in genuinely seeking truth, we will find it nested in love.

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A truth without love is an inadequate truth—and, therefore, no truth at all. We cannot blatantly upset people with our truth and claim to be transformed beings. God transforms us in love in order that we may see truth. Love always comes first. Then truth becomes the power behind our transformation.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.