Lord, Help Me Balance Truth and Love (a prayer)

Love is critical to the Christian life, but so is truth.

Love is critical to the Christian life, but so is truth. How do we balance the two in our own actions and in our interactions with others? A #prayer Share on X

Shoulders sagging, I turned away, tears threatening. The conversation frustrated and even confused me.

I hadn’t meant to come across as harsh and critical, but I needed to point out what the Bible said was true. I loved him and Him…too much not to share.

And the loving thing to do is speak up when truth is being ignored, disobeyed, or misunderstood. 

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit” (Galatians 6:1, CSB)

Truth and Love

Still, being truthful doesn’t always seem so loving. What’s done and said in love isn’t always seen as helpful. And the way we live our own lives doesn’t always represent love and truth well.

Yet God continues to call us to walk boldly in the truth and in love and to encourage other Christians to do the same.

How can we do both well? 

It’s a struggle, and one in which we need the Lord’s wisdom to gain clarity and discernment. To this end I pray:

Lord, You care so much for truth and love. The truth is You love us, and You want the best for us. But to our ears the truth doesn’t always sound loving.

We can’t see what You can, so we don’t see the dangers. We think we know what’s best for us, but our shortsightedness prevents us from truly knowing. But in Your omniscient, You see it all.

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV).”

Forgive us our failure to trust You, Lord. And forgive us when we choose to disobey. In our fallen nature, trusting in Your love and truth becomes a struggle. Sometimes our flesh wins the temporarily battle. Your servant Paul put it this way,

“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15). 

Yet Your mercy is new everyday. Your love continues. With our repentance, You are quick to provide forgiveness.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NIV).

Your grace refines and strengthens us for the next battle. Each time we come out a little stronger, a little more like You.

Lord, teach us Your ways. Open our eyes to Your truth, and assure us of Your love. Help us accept Your direction, correction, and conviction as coming only out of Your love for us. Clearly show us the way to walk in truth and love and to demonstrate that love and truth to others.

Lord, teach us Your ways. Open our eyes to Your truth, and assure us of Your love. Clearly show us the way to walk in both and to demonstrate both to others. Share on X

In Your most holy, sovereign, just, and gracious name, Amen.

Reflections: Is it difficult for you to point out when someone has misunderstood or is intentionally disobeying/ignoring a truth found in Scripture? How have you found to share such truth in a loving manner?