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Body Building Daily Devotional - 40

by David Joynt on October 21, 2021


EPHESIANS 4:15 | 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

In human relationships, just as in the person of Christ, truth must join with love and grace. Truth is necessary! Without truth about ourselves and our problems, we are out of touch with reality. But truth alone can be harsh and alienating. Human beings’ basic needs and drives are connected to our safety and personhood. No one hears or accepts the truth unless the messenger is felt and seen to care about the one to whom the message is delivered. Without the security, which love and grace provide, communications and relationships break down and we become defensive and reactive. Terry and Sharon Hargrave identified four classic reactions to moments when our personhood or safety is threatened: we become aggressive, controlling, indifferent, or fragile.

Do you lean towards grace and love or truth in your relationships?

 

Tags: truth, love, grace

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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