Speaking Truth and Mercy

We live in a world where we are increasingly told that any religious convictions we hold should be kept private. They do not belong in the public sector.

And yet God, in his word, encourages us to be open and clear about who God is, his truth, his mercy, and his salvation.

I have declared your righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lᴏʀᴅ, and that you know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart; my talk has been of your truth and of your salvation.  I have not concealed your loving mercy and truth from the great congregation.

Psalm 40:12-14

I don’t believe these verses mean that we do what is commonly known as Bible bashing or holding people hostage teaching about what they must do in order to be saved.

But I do see a clear instruction for followers of Jesus to speak about truth with mercy, and about the many good and right things that God has done in our lives. We each have our own story. No one can take that from us. Are we living with God in such a way that his truth and his mercy and his goodness are clear to us, and therefore part of our natural conversation and recounting of the events of a particular day?

Loving God, help us to live this day with respect and honesty. Help us to share the goodness of our life with you in appropriate ways with people we meet. There is no doubt that we could not manage life on our own without you and many people experience that for themselves.

And so I pray that you would help us to recognize what a right word in a moment is that encourages and uplifts and leaves a sense of love and comfort and mercy with the person with whom we speak.

Give us grace in all the ordinary moments of life to be gracious, to stand for positive truth, when lots of angry negative words fly around us, to be a person who speaks with gratitude and affirmation, and hope even to ones who stumble and feel like their world is breaking apart.

Lead us today to people whose hearts you know are longing for a word that clarifies confusion, brings comfort to a broken heart, and offers hope. May this be a day for us of speaking just the right word to just the right person in just the right moment. Amen.

Let’s have a great day living in the mercy and love and righteousness of God and as is appropriate sharing that with others around us.