One of the most famous verses in Ephesians is chapter 4 verse 15: “speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

The famous part is right at the start: speak the truth in love. My guess is that many of you will have set it as a goal for yourself, especially when heading into a challenging conversation. “Lord, help me speak the truth in love.”

When you look at the wider context, Paul has been teaching about Christian maturity. As the rest of verse 15 makes clear, we want to grow in maturity under Christ who is our “head.” The reason we speak the truth in love is because that’s what Jesus did.

He spoke the truth—about the word of God, about obedience, about love, about justice, about sexual purity, about love, about holiness, and about a whole host of other things. He confronted hypocrisy, taught the masses, and remained faithful to his Father even when there was a risk of suffering personal violence.

But he did so from a place of love. He didn’t do it out of spite, to shame anyone, or because of unrighteous anger. He did it because of love.

This is quite simply an encouragement to speak the truth, but to do it with love. Bible scholar N.T. Wright underscores why this kind of approach is consistent with who we claim to be as God’s people: “The truth of the God of love can’t be commended by loveless speech.”* If we are speaking about a God of love, there’s something inconsistent in our approach if our words are loveless.

Examples abound of what not to do, especially online and in the media. Instead, let’s talk, text, type and act in a way that is consistent with our Lord.

“speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

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Notes and extra content:

–“Spiritual Gifts 103: All Hands on Deck.” Sermon on Ephesians 4:1-16, explaining the “power gifts,” and asking, Where do we go from here? January 28, 2024. Click here.

–*Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon), enlarged print edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015), 48. 

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.