Truth Spoken with Potency

"Jesus replied, "If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I'm speaking the truth, why are you beating me?" John 18:23

Jesus spoke truth. While the character of Jesus is absolutely loving and kind, He spoke the truth with potency. Truth by its nature can't be just hinted at and expected to reveal itself fully. There are times when truth must be boldly stated to be genuine to its nature.

Jesus speaking the truth with potency is not contradictory to His lovingkindness and His grace-filled and merciful nature. Love has a soft side but it is also tenacious and tough. Love propelled Jesus through the torture of the crucifixion.

In John 18 Jesus would in short order be sentenced to death. It wasn't the time for gentle soft-spoken words. It was appropriate for truth to be spoken with potency.

Sometimes our hearts need to hear that clear direct potent word from the Lord - because we are so prone to distraction.

When He speaks in this manner, it is never out of anything but love - for love to be real has to be truthful. Sometimes the truth hurts - but those wounds are the kind that can heal and make us stronger.

When I married I was very shy, soft spoken and found it painfully difficult to confront anything. My husband, a great communicator, encouraged me to come out of my shell and learn to articulate my thoughts and emotions. Even as I wrote, he would point out my passive voice and say - "take off your gloves!" Come out and say it. He wanted to see my communication blossom from dancing around a tough subject to someone who could state an issue with potency and clarity. God orchestrated such an influence in my life, for some day as a counselor there would be times I would have to do so.

Jesus always spoke the truth with potency with absolute perfect love that was willing to sacrifice all for our eternal salvation. Truth spoken with that level of love changed the world.