II John 1 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.
If you had a choice of being truthful or being loving, which would you be? It is easy for us to think, “Well, I just speak the truth.” That becomes an excuse for us to beat people over the head. Or we think, “I just love people too much to tell them that truth. That would be hurtful.” The fact is that sometimes people are not loveable, but we can love people and the truth at the same time.
I cannot excuse my lack of love by saying, “I am just telling the truth.” And, I cannot excuse my lack of truth by saying, “Well, I just love them too much to tell them the truth.” Both of these are wrong, and really my question at the beginning, “Which would you rather be, truthful or loving?” is based on a false presupposition. It is supposing that you have to be one or the other. We can love people and the truth at the same time.
That is largely what II John is trying to say. Verses 1-2 say, “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.” So, I am to love the truth and I am to love in the truth. It is both truth and love.
In I John the Bible tells us two absolute truths about God. In chapter one God is light, and in chapter five God is love. He is both. It is not as if He is one of the other. So, God is the truth and God is love. In II John 5-6 you find that loving others is a command from God, and, on the other hand, “this is love, that we walk after his commandments.” Love is commanded and the commandment is love. It is both. It is kind of a circle.
So, you don’t have to make a choice about whether you are going to love the truth or love people in the truth. You are to do both. Truth is loving and loving is truth. What that means is that I’m not doing anyone a favor by protecting them from the truth. The truth is not something that ought to be defended against. I’m to tell the truth and I am supposed to be loving. In short, we can love people and the truth at the same time, and by God’s grace we should.