Hard Truths - Your Daily Forward Devotional

November 9

Read Galatians 4:14b-16

You welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Reflect

Have you ever been told a hard truth that you didn’t want to hear? How did you handle it?

I don’t know about you but I don’t always like to hear the truth, especially when someone is holding me accountable or calling out my sin.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul had to speak some hard truths. He had to warn them that the Judaizers were deceiving them. He warned them that they were getting caught up in legalism. But it seems they didn’t want to hear it.

Paul says that when he first preached the Gospel to the Galatians, they received it with great joy. Paul was suffering from an illness and yet they didn’t perceive him as a burden or treat him with contempt. They welcomed him and would have done anything for him. Paul said that they would have ripped out their eyes for him if they could. But now, Paul is telling them something they don’t want to hear. Instead of accepting it with humility and being teachable, they are treating Paul like he is suddenly their enemy.

Friends, God has placed people in authority over us and in communion with us. Sometimes, those people notice that we are straying from the Gospel we once accepted with great joy. In love for us, they call us out and hold us accountable. In those moments, we should respond with humility. We should listen and prayerfully consider what they have to say. If they are telling us the truth, we should accept it with gratitude. Even if it means we have to admit we were gullible, stupid, or just plain wrong. If someone loves us enough to confront us with truth we would do well to listen.

Pray

God, thank You for the people that You have placed in my life to speak truth to me. Help me to humbly accept it. Give me the courage to speak truth into the lives of others as well. No matter how it is received. Amen.

~ Pastor Nat Crawford

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