Ephesians 4:15-16 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) 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.
One of the main themes in the letter to the Ephesians is love. The Bible Knowledge Commentary describes it like this.
On the return from his third missionary journey Paul told the Ephesian elders at Miletus (a.d. 57) to beware of evil teachers from without and of professing believers within who would teach perverse things (Act_20:29-30). From Revelation one can see that the Ephesian church had succeeded in keeping out the false teachers (Rev_2:2) but had failed to maintain the vibrancy of their first love for Christ (Rev_2:4). This is substantiated in 1Ti_1:5, when Paul wrote from Macedonia to Timothy at Ephesus (ca a.d. 62) that the goal of his instruction was “love which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Thus the theme of love needed to be stressed for the saints at Ephesus.
The message of love was so vital to the Ephesians as they were a group of both Gentile and Jewish believers. Unity and love for one another are the true mark of a faithful follower of Christ. Speaking the truth in love is not just a good idea, it is a way of life. It doesn’t simply mean that when you need to say hard things to someone you do it with love, but it is also talking about the way we present the gospel. When we go back to verse 11 we see that those he chose to equip the saints are teachers, evangelists, pastors, prophets, etc. They are all agents of truth to equip the saints for building up the body of Christ. Speaking the truth in love means that we are to share the gospel to the lost in a loving manner, but we are also to speak the gospel truths to one another to build up each others faith in which Christ is the head of the body.
When each part of the body is working properly, we are able to build ourselves up in Christ in love. I am reminded of a time that I spent several years back with a friend of mine. We were chatting over coffee and he shared with me that he was having some personal struggles and that he had been to a counselor for a few visits but it wasn’t going as well as he had hoped. As he shared these struggles it hit me that one key element of the body of Christ is to bear one another’s burdens. I suggested to him that we spend some time over the next few months walking through this trial together. Rather than him having to see a counselor he couldn’t afford, we were going to walk together sharing the truth in love with one another. He was going to allow me to speak into his life and I allowed him to do the same. As we progressed we could see how the Lord was moving in our times together and eventually came to the place that we no longer needed to meet together regarding these struggles.
Sharing the truth in love so the whole body can work properly together is essential. Being willing to allow the truth to be spoken into your life and mine takes humility and can come when we least expect it. God is so gracious to bring brothers and sisters into our lives that are willing to speak to us in our weakness and build us up so we grow together in love.
Blessings,
Keith