II John 3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love
“Well, I just tell it like it is.” Have you ever heard someone say this, or maybe you have said it yourself. “I give people my truth.” “I let them have it.” “I just say what I think.” Should we give an opera clap to such a person because of their great virtue, or is that what it is? I do think we should tell the truth, but sometimes people talk about their temperaments as if it is some virtue. In other words, it is from them, not from God. On the other hand, we sometimes say, “Truth hurts.” Or we will say as a parent, “Well, I just love my child too much to make them do right?” Many times, we are not talking about virtue, we are talking about temperament. We tend to be harsh on people and then we explain that away by saying, “I just tell it like it is.” Or, we roll over and play dead and claim that is love.
What we need today is not our own temperaments on display. What we need is the virtues of the Lord Jesus, virtues that we would not have ourselves, virtues that are not innate in ourselves. We need to live up to the virtues of Christ and not down to our own temperaments. A temperament that may be a strength can actually become a weakness for us. That can often be true when it comes to truth and love. We think, “Well, I just tell people the way it is,” or we say, “I just love them too much to bother them with the truth.” The truth is that truth and love go together.
In the first place, truth and love are found together repeatedly in the same book, II John. Oftentimes we think these two are opposites, but they cannot be because both are virtues and come from the Lord. They are defined by Him as opposed to being defined by us as just some temperament that we tend to have. So, both virtues are found in the book.
Verse 1 says, “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.” Cross reference verse 9 where it talks about abiding in the doctrine of Christ. So, the truth is to dwell in us and we are to dwell in the truth, especially the truth about the Lord Jesus. Verse 3 says, “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” Notice the things we need: grace, mercy, and peace that come in truth and love. They are found together.
Sometimes parents can tend to be either cruel or fawning. We can be fawning, as in, “Oh, my child can do no wrong.” On the other hand, we can just be cruel. The truth is, we need to have truth and love. They are not opposites. They go together. They are in harmony. If a parent says, “We need to balance discipline and love.” No, discipline is love. I am not loving my children if I am not giving them a direction to go in and helping them be there. There is no discipline without love and there is no real love without discipline, giving a child the direction to go.
So, we are not talking about our own temperament here. We are talking about vice or virtue, that which God Himself instills in us and we live in obedience to Him. Grace, mercy, and peace are the results of our living in truth and love.
What about balance? Sometimes we think that balance is the perfect median between two extremes. One guy is way on the left and the other guy is way on the right, so balance is right between the two of them. No, when you think about it, you are right in the middle of everyone that you know. Everyone you know is smarter or less intelligent. They are bigger or smaller, more attractive or less attractive. Everyone is one side of you or the other. So, claiming to be balanced because everyone is one side or the other of you is pretty unself-aware and self-serving. Balance is finding out what God says and just standing there. It may make me appear extreme to some; so be it. God defines what is truth, otherwise there is no truth.
So, truth and love go together. An example of this is found in verse 10 where it says “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine [the truth about Jesus], receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.” Don’t tell him to have a great day and hope things go well with him. It continues, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
The Bible is not saying we are to be cantankerous to people, but I am not loving people if I send falsehood on its way. If someone is teaching falsehood about Jesus, I should not say, “Have a great day. Hope you do well.” I can wish him well, but I don’t need to wish what he is doing well. The Bible says that if I bid him God speed, I am partaker of his evil deeds. If I do that, who am I loving? Am I loving the people to whom this person goes in deception? That is not love. Am I loving God by allowing this person to go on in their deception? That is not love. Am I loving God or this person? No! Truth is not truth without love. If I am giving the truth, it needs to be motivated by the love of Christ and there is no love without truth. I am not loving someone if I let them go on their merry way to destruction.
So, whether I am a parent, neighbor, coworker, leader, or follower, truth and love are found together and bound together. They go together. So it should be in my live and yours today.