In Deed & Truth
"My Little Children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18
When John wrote the verse quoted above, he was not negating the power of words or the tongue. He knew, just like we do, that words are a form by which we express love and can be very powerful. But words alone, not backed by actions, become meaningless sounds that momentarily grace the air and are blown away at the slightest gust of wind. In other words, we can talk about how much we love something or someone but if those words are never backed by actions then our words are just that. Words. Empty, unfulfilling, wanna-be, meaningless, cheap talk. The only thing filling words like that are the patties that dot a cow pasture.
Love itself is very powerful. It can be as strong as the cliffs that withstand the constant buffeting of waves but it can also be as fragile as a butterfly's wings. It has the power to heal and to destroy.
We all hold that power within us to speak "loving" words but to love someone in deed and in truth takes intentional thoughtfulness and demonstrates we really mean the words we say.
So how can we go about intentionally demonstrating loving another person in deed and in truth?
Step 1 - Let's start with deed. What does it mean to love in deed? It means backing up what you say. It means doing consistent behaviors that without a word attached to it says, "I love you". Have you ever seen the movie "Princess Bride"? If you haven't you don't know what you are missing and if you have you will know exactly what I am about to explain. In the beginning of the movie it shows the interaction of a young female farm owner named Buttercup and her help that she always called "Farm Boy". He quietly helped around the farm and took charge of every task she told him with a simple "as you wish". One day his "as you wish" resonated deep in her heart. It suddenly dawned on her that his "as you wish" meant "I love you". How did she come to that conclusion? She realized that he had backed up every "as you wish" with behavior that reconciled with the simple three words he so often spoke. Whether the deeds you do are random acts of kindness to strangers or consistent daily deeds with family and friends, make sure you are consistently backing up any words you say or do with genuine deeds that speak the same.
Step 2 - John also said to love in truth. Now what does THAT mean? It means be careful what you say. Don't pretend to love in word and do otherwise in deed. Words not backed up by actions may be meaningless and make a person a flake but words backed up by actions consistently at odds with the words being spoken makes a person a liar. So make sure your deeds reflect your words. One of the biggest betrayals to anyone's heart is when a person says they love you and then consistently prove otherwise by doing just the opposite in their deeds.
Love should be a place of absolute safety. There should be no fear in love but many times there is because we speak words of "love" that we never meant or knew we couldn't really fulfill and ended up not loving who we said we supposedly did in deed AND in truth.
So today, I encourage myself and you to intentionally demonstrate loving others in deed and truth and taken more care to not throw words of love around so carelessly.
