“Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).
I’ve written recently about how important love and truth are, that they go together. Paul emphasized this in his letter to the Ephesians. But Paul also added one more concept, of equal importance, when dealing with issues of truth within the church. Yes, we must speak the truth to one another. Because we are, “Members of one another.”
What does it mean to be members of one another? At first this sounds like a membership in some kind of club or lodge. But this is not Paul’s meaning. Paul used language very carefully. When Paul talks about membership he is talking about one thing: being members of the body of Christ.
As Paul says elsewhere, the members of the body of Christ have different functions, but we all serve the same head, that of Jesus Christ. As such, we need one another just as much as we need Christ. Think about that for a minute. We need one another as much as we need Christ. God did not design us to be Lone Ranger Christians. We operate in a body. If we love Jesus then it must naturally follow that we must love one another. The apostle John said, “Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (I John 4:21).
Just as we must speak the truth in love to those outside the church, especially of their need for Christ, so too we must speak the truth to one another within the church. To lie to a brother is too lie to the church. And this is not the mark of love.
Memory Verse
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Application
Do you have someone that his hidden from your brother or sister in Christ that needs to be revealed? How can you approach them in a spirit of love and humility to clear the air, and let forgiveness come?