Growing in Christ: The Call to Truth and Love

Devotional

Day 1: The Call to Speak Truth in Love

The journey to spiritual maturity involves the ability to speak the truth in love, a task that extends beyond church leaders to every believer. This responsibility is rooted in the understanding that truth-speaking is not just about correction but about engaging in deeper doctrinal truths that build up the body of Christ. Each believer is called to be a truth-bearer, equipped by the teaching of the Word, to minister to one another. This mutual edification is essential for our growth into the fullness of Christ, who is the head of the body. By embracing this call, believers contribute to a community where love and truth coexist harmoniously, fostering an environment of spiritual growth and maturity. [03:32]

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV): "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."

Reflection: Who in your life needs to hear a truth spoken in love today, and how can you approach them with both honesty and compassion?

Day 2: Truth as an Act of Love

Speaking the truth in love is an act of love itself, as it involves sharing the gospel truth and the whole counsel of God with others. This truth-telling is essential for the spiritual growth and preservation of the community, helping each member to grow into the likeness of Christ. Love, in this context, is not merely an emotion but an active commitment to the well-being of others, achieved through the sharing of gospel truth. This commitment requires believers to understand and communicate biblical truths within the community, ensuring that each member is equipped to grow and mature in their faith. [07:33]

1 John 3:18 (ESV): "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

Reflection: How can you actively demonstrate love through truth-telling in your relationships this week?

Day 3: From Spiritual Immaturity to Maturity

The contrast between spiritual immaturity and maturity is highlighted by the imagery of children being tossed by waves of doctrine versus growing into Christ. This growth requires a commitment to understanding and communicating biblical truths within the community. Spiritual maturity is marked by stability in faith and doctrine, achieved through the communal effort of truth-speaking in love. As believers grow in Christ, they are not only conformed to His image but also contribute to the building up of the body in love. This process is a communal effort, where each member plays a vital role in fostering an environment of growth and maturity. [02:49]

Hebrews 5:14 (ESV): "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

Reflection: In what areas of your spiritual life do you feel like you are still being "tossed by waves," and how can you seek growth and stability in those areas?

Day 4: Love as an Active Commitment

Love, in the context of truth-speaking, is an active commitment to the well-being of others. It involves sharing life-giving, encouraging, and warning truths that contribute to the spiritual growth and maturity of the body of Christ. This dynamic interplay of truth and love is what enables the body to grow and mature, reflecting the fullness of Christ. By committing to this active form of love, believers create a community where each member is supported and encouraged to grow in their faith, contributing to the overall health and maturity of the church. [08:14]

Colossians 3:16 (ESV): "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Reflection: How can you actively commit to the well-being of someone in your church community this week through truth-speaking?

Day 5: Equipping the Body for Mutual Edification

The church's ministry is designed to equip believers to minister to one another through the teaching of the Word. This mutual edification is crucial for the body to grow and mature, reflecting the fullness of Christ and contributing to the building up of the body in love. Each member of the church plays a vital role in this process, using their gifts and abilities to support and encourage one another. By embracing this call to mutual edification, believers contribute to a community where love and truth coexist harmoniously, fostering an environment of spiritual growth and maturity. [10:24]

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV): "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."

Reflection: What specific gift or ability can you use this week to serve and edify someone in your church community?

Sermon Summary

In our journey through Ephesians 4:15-16, we explore the profound call to maturity in Christ. The passage urges us to speak the truth in love, a directive that is not merely about correcting others but about engaging in a deeper, doctrinal truth that builds up the body of Christ. This truth-speaking is not limited to pastors or leaders but is a responsibility for every believer. We are all called to be truth-bearers, equipped by the teaching of the Word, to minister to one another. This mutual edification is essential for our growth into the fullness of Christ, who is the head of the body.

The passage contrasts spiritual immaturity, likened to being children tossed by waves of doctrine, with the maturity that comes from growing into Christ. This growth is facilitated by speaking the truth in love, which is both a means and an expression of love. Love, in this context, is not merely an emotion but an active commitment to the well-being of others, achieved through the sharing of gospel truth. This truth is rooted in the apostolic teachings and the whole counsel of God, which we are to understand and communicate to one another.

As we grow in Christ, we are not only conformed to His image but also contribute to the building up of the body in love. This process is a communal effort, where each member plays a vital role. The church's ministry is designed to equip believers to speak life-giving, encouraging, and warning truths to each other, fostering an environment where love and truth coexist harmoniously. This dynamic interplay of truth and love is what enables the body to grow and mature, reflecting the fullness of Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. Spiritual maturity is marked by our ability to speak the truth in love, which involves sharing doctrinal truths that build up the body of Christ. This responsibility is not limited to church leaders but extends to every believer, emphasizing the communal nature of spiritual growth. [03:32]
2. Speaking the truth in love is an act of love itself, as it involves sharing the gospel truth and the whole counsel of God with others. This truth-telling is essential for the spiritual growth and preservation of the community, helping each member to grow into the likeness of Christ. [07:33]
3. The contrast between spiritual immaturity and maturity is highlighted by the imagery of children being tossed by waves of doctrine versus growing into Christ. This growth requires a commitment to understanding and communicating biblical truths within the community. [02:49]
4. Love, in the context of truth-speaking, is an active commitment to the well-being of others. It involves sharing life-giving, encouraging, and warning truths that contribute to the spiritual growth and maturity of the body of Christ. [08:14]
5. The church's ministry is designed to equip believers to minister to one another through the teaching of the Word. This mutual edification is crucial for the body to grow and mature, reflecting the fullness of Christ and contributing to the building up of the body in love. [10:24]
** [10:24]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:14] - Introduction to Ephesians 4:15-16
[00:28] - Speaking the Truth in Love
[00:41] - Growing into Christ
[00:59] - Prayer for Understanding
[01:14] - The Purpose of Ministry
[02:02] - From Children to Maturity
[03:04] - How We Grow Up
[03:32] - The Role of Truth Speaking
[04:13] - The Danger of False Doctrine
[05:16] - Everyone as a Teacher
[06:10] - Mutual Edification
[07:16] - Love and Truth
[08:29] - Growing into the Fullness of Christ
[10:07] - Conclusion and Call to Action

Bible Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: Ephesians 4:15-16

Bible Reading:
- Ephesians 4:15-16
- Hebrews 5:12
- Hebrews 3:12-13

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Observation Questions:

What does Ephesians 4:15-16 say about the relationship between speaking the truth in love and spiritual growth? How is this connected to the idea of maturity in Christ? [00:28]
According to the sermon, what is the role of every believer in the process of speaking the truth in love? How does this differ from the role of church leaders? [05:16]
How does the sermon describe the contrast between spiritual immaturity and maturity using the imagery of children and adults? [02:30]
What does Hebrews 3:12-13 suggest about the communal responsibility of believers in preventing spiritual downfall? How does this relate to the sermon’s message? [06:23]

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Interpretation Questions:

In what ways does speaking the truth in love serve as both a means and an expression of love within the church community? How does this align with the sermon’s emphasis on doctrinal truth? [07:16]
How does the sermon interpret the phrase "grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ"? What does this growth entail for individual believers and the church as a whole? [09:18]
The sermon mentions that all believers are called to be truth-bearers. How does this challenge traditional views of ministry roles within the church? [05:44]
How does the sermon’s interpretation of Ephesians 4:15-16 encourage believers to engage with the apostolic teachings and the whole counsel of God? [07:47]

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Application Questions:

Reflect on a recent situation where you had the opportunity to speak the truth in love. How did you handle it, and what might you do differently in light of this sermon? [03:46]
The sermon emphasizes the communal nature of spiritual growth. How can you actively contribute to the spiritual maturity of your church community this week? [06:10]
Consider the areas in your life where you might be spiritually immature, like the children tossed by waves of doctrine. What steps can you take to grow into maturity in Christ? [02:49]
How can you equip yourself with doctrinal truths to better minister to others in your church? What resources or practices might help you in this endeavor? [04:59]
The sermon highlights the importance of mutual edification. Identify one person in your church community you can encourage or support this week. How will you do it? [06:35]
Reflect on the concept of love as an active commitment to the well-being of others. How can you demonstrate this kind of love in your daily interactions? [08:14]
The sermon calls for believers to be truth-bearers. What specific truth from the Bible can you share with someone this week, and how will you approach the conversation? [05:56]

Sermon Clips

Speaking the truth in love, that we might grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. [00:25:76]

We want to be truth speakers and we want to be loving people and we want to be conformed to Christ and we believe his word is appointed to that end so, come and help me and us, I pray in Jesus name amen. [00:78:40]

The ministry of teaching and body life, you might call it, is so that first, we may no longer be children, and that verb right there, be, tells you that it goes with this so that, and now, no longer children, but speaking the truth in love that and that's the second clause that goes with so that. [00:105:76]

The problem with being children is being tossed to and fro by and carried about by waves of teaching waves of doctrine, deceitful schemes of craftiness and cunning instead speak what, speak doctrinal truth. [00:254:95]

Shepherds and teachers, let's go back, prophets he gives he gives apostles and prophets and evangelists, these shepherds and teachers here are to equip all the saints to do the work of the ministry, well that equipping is largely by teaching and that ministry therefore is largely by speaking that truth that they got from that teaching to each other. [00:277:84]

Though by this time you ought to be teachers, he's talking to everybody, though by this time you ought to be teachers in one sense, all Christians become teachers not in an official capacity, not in an authoritative capacity but in this capacity, everybody equipped by the pastors and teachers to minister to one another with the teaching. [00:331:52]

We grow up not just by sitting in church on Sunday and hearing pastors do good preaching and teaching but we grow up by all of us speaking to each other, here's what it says in Hebrews 3, take care brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. [00:362:80]

Exhort one another every day as long as it is called as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin that was the issue back here, cunning craftiness deceitful schemes, that's why we need, uh, not to be children, but to speak truth to one another. [00:408:56]

If you love people, you will speak gospel truth to people you will speak the whole counsel of God from scripture to people you will take note of what the apostles and the prophets said and how it's been written down in the new testament and you will try to understand it and then speak it to each other that will be love. [00:457:91]

Love is doing good to people saving people sanctifying people preserving people helping them along toward heaven which is what this truth is for that we may grow up. [00:498:80]

We might grow up in every way into Christ this into him, ace alton in Greek could be for him, grow up in every way for him that's the the way it's translated over here in Colossians 1, by him all things were created in heaven on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him. [00:518:83]

We do that by speaking doctrinal truth biblical truth gospel truth beautiful truth encouraging life-giving warning truth to each other which is a great act of love. [00:617:44]

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Growing in Christ: The Call to Truth and Love

Devotional

Day 1: The Call to Speak Truth in Love

Day 2: Truth as an Act of Love

Day 3: From Spiritual Immaturity to Maturity

Day 4: Love as an Active Commitment

Day 5: Equipping the Body for Mutual Edification

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Growing in Christ: The Call to Truth and Love

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