The cost of the truth is high,
it's not cheap or easy. Sometimes people think that the truth
is easy to say. In my experience most of the time it has been hard and not
enjoyable. The price of speaking the truth is isolation.
When we tell someone the truth, often they don't want to hear it. It's not common that people reply
with “Thank you for correcting me.” However they reply with venom in
their voice, attack, call names, accuse, get angry, belittle, are
rude, snarky, condescending, roll their eyes, insult, gossip, spread
lies, assume your motives.. I could carry on but I think you get the point.
The truth comes at a price, for the person who says it and for the
one who receives it, as the truth is often hard to take and humbles
us.
It says in Proverbs1 that a fool has no desire to understand, merely to express his own opinion. Proverbs2 also says that those who hate correction are stupid. When we speak the truth, do people often seek to test or understand what was said or what was meant? No, like the fool in Proverbs they express their opinions about you, or why you are “just wrong”.
Speaking the truth is not easy. It's not easy knowing that you are likely to be attacked. It is not easy
to remain calm and refrain from attacking them back or ripping them apart with the truth. It would be much easier to manipulate their
emotions, attack them so they feel small.
The cost of not speaking the truth is higher, because to love is to speak the truth.3 Not loving one another is akin to spitting on God and the sacrifice Jesus made for us.4
It can be hard to speak the
truth. Often the real reason why we avoid it is because we fear man
more than God. We are more interested in having it easy on this earth
than in storing up treasures in heaven. We are more concerned with someone's feelings and what they think of us than we are about their soul.
The reward of truth is high
too; it sets us free5,
it saves us from eternal damnation6,
it is love in action. Relationships built on truth
last, take effort, and have meaning7.
The truth is hard to say, it is
not cheap, it is isolating, yet we have been commanded to speak it8.
