We don’t know what we don’t know!

Have you ever wondered why people get angry when you tell them the truth,  even when it's spoken in love? Jesus told the disciples “I have many things to tell you, but you are not yet able to bear them” (John 16:12). The point is, that the truth is sometimes very hard to hear! Part of this, is that too often it's accompanied by condemnation. Of course when we are in Christ, the Lord will not condemn us (Romans 8:1), but that’s not the case with the world! And if we have not yet learned to care more about what the Lord thinks about us, than what the world thinks, that will likely be very painful. Also, if we don’t fully embrace that there is no condemnation in Christ, or if we don’t even know it, then like Adam and Eve we will ultimately hide. And part of what we hide, is the truth. And if we hide from the truth, it is not able to do its job, which is to set us free (John 8:31, 32).

The Scripture talks about how we suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). When we do this, and I believe to some extent we all do it, we are in denial about truth. And when we are in denial, we don’t know what we don’t know! I suspect, that part of why we suppress truth, is that if we embrace it, it opens up a whole can of worms, and/or if we fully embrace it, then we are going to need to do something about it. Such thoughts can be overwhelming! I mean it's painful, and we probably have absolutely no idea how to fix what needs to be fixed! So we continue in our denial, not knowing what we don’t know. Into all of this, I thank God both for the gentle and persistent conviction of the Holy Spirit, for the the spiritual law that we reap what we sow, and for the Lord's discipline (John 16:8; Galatians 6:7; Hebrews 12:6).

Since God is a persistent teacher, He will teach us one way or the other. And if we are not willing to learn by the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit, we will eventually learn what the Lord wants us to learn either from the school of hard knocks (reaping what we sow), or from His discipline. It is interesting to me to note that the Scripture about the conviction of the Holy Spirit, is in the same context as not being able to bear what He needs to say.  We are told that if anyone is overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual should restore such a one (Galatians 6:1). But I would far rather hear it from God, than from men. In particular, when we learn to walk by the Spirit, His conviction is a far gentler way to receive truth than from others, or discipline,  or the school of hard knocks. Conviction is very different from condemnation, in fact conviction is an invitation to draw closer to Him, and to enter into life in all its fullness (John 10:10b).

Father, I want to thank You this morning for Your promise, that if we continue in Your Word, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. And so I ask Lord, that You will give us grace to receive the truth we need to hear, and the courage to speak truth in love when You prompt us to, in Jesus Name Amen