Speaking Up in Love (and Nervousness)

READ: EPHESIANS 4:29-32

As the aerobics class finished, I grabbed my bag and stormed to the locker room. "Why, God?" I pleaded. "Why do I have to deal with this?"

Near the end of the workout session, the instructor had made a rude remark about a member of a popular boy band. Over the microphone she had been using to call out exercises, the aerobics teacher had referred to this person by a homosexual slur. She laughed and, a few minutes later, wrapped up the session.

None of the other class members seemed surprised by the teacher’s comment. But I sensed the Lord nudging me to speak up. I didn’t want this responsibility. It was too complicated. I understood God’s teaching about the kind of marriage that honors Him: gospel-centered marriage between one man and one woman. Our feelings might point us away from God’s best for our lives, but His instructions about sex and marriage remain (Ephesians 5:31-33). So, how should I address this with the aerobics instructor—especially when I believed she might also be a follower of Jesus?

A couple days later, I attended a class with the same instructor. At the end of the session, I waited for the room to empty and then approached her with shaking hands and a quavering voice. I asked if she remembered her comments about the singer and then told her I was a Christian. I mentioned I had certain beliefs about marriage and sexuality, but I also believed God tells us to treat others with love—including in our speech. She listened well, seemed embarrassed about her previous nasty remark, and thanked me for bringing it to her attention.

In pursuing this difficult conversation with my instructor, I sought to love her by telling her the truth. Because of the grace Jesus has shown us, we can demonstrate His forgiveness and do good to all people, even those we might disagree with. Because, in love, Jesus died and rose again for my aerobics instructor...for the boy band singer...and for me. • Allison Wilson Lee

• How do you think God teaches us to treat others who don’t believe what we believe?

• Read Galatians 6:10. How should we approach Christians who are speaking in unwholesome ways? How does the forgiveness Jesus gives affect the way we have those conversations?

• What are some of the difficulties in balancing speaking the truth while doing so with love?

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)