Last night I was a messenger of truth to one of my friends. It started as one of those conversations that seems like it will be light and touch on a little depth, but then somehow ends up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
It was a conversation that left my friend reeling and me praying after we got off the phone. My friend needed time to go and process and I asked for coverage and protection in that time.
Sometimes I wish I was the messenger of candy and not a messenger of truth.
Messenger of candy would be so much more fun. I could call up all my friends and say, "Guess what? I have a lifetime supply of Twix for you!" I could show up at their door step and shower them with malted milk balls. I could sneak to their house at night and fill their car with gummy bears.
What an awesome job that would be.
Sadly, that's not my job. My job is to be a good friend. My job is to be intentional and to be committed to speaking truth even when it's not fun.
As a child, I came up against lies constantly in my own life. Not just those typical childhood ones about gift-giving mythical people and creatures, but really life-changing lies. Lies that caused me not to trust and not to engage with people in healthy ways. It has taken a lot of work to undo those things, but I have done and still do the work. That is why I always want to speak truth into the lives of those around me.
Truth is relative. So a truth for one person may not be truth for another. This makes it all the more tricky.
We all claim to want truth in our lives and to live honestly, but when it comes down to it, it is a really hard thing. Truth is hard to hear. It's hard to process. It's hard to apply even after we have heard and processed it. The changes that come from having lies stripped out of our lives can change our jobs, our friends and our families. Because even though we may now know greater truth in our lives, the people around us may not be ready for it either.
It's a lot.
A lot for us and the people around us. But if we commit to only speaking truth and not allowing destructive things to foster, the shifts around us will become easier. We will surround ourselves with people who also want truth and there is great freedom in that.
I truly pray for a day when all the people I know and love and even the people I don't know or love have a freedom to truly be who they are. The freedom to grow and change and to become the people they want to be.
I can try and be the messenger of candy all I want, but eventually my friends will all just get fat and mad at me. Because all I will have given them is sweet and empty things and not anything really good for them.
Who will you speak truth to today?
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