Love is blind! I heard this statement over and over again while growing up. I see people remain in toxic relationships claiming love is blind and I wondered if stupidity was synonymous with love.

Love overlooks shortcomings; true! Does this mean, love denies the truth?

Love is blind! This means Love is not on the lookout for perfections. Love would try to see the good in you. Where people seem to get it confused is the assumption that love only sees the good in a person and it ends there. They think if you love someone, you look past their shortcomings and simply concentrate on the good things you like about them. This thinking pattern is not the correct representation of love. Love does not deny truth.

Misappropriation of love

This misappropriation of love is often seen in many facets of everyday life. Some parents overindulge their children in the name of love. They permit bad behavior just to avoid hurting them with a sharp rebuke. Whereas, the Bible tells us that God disciplines the children He loves (Hebrews 12: 6). It went further to explain that “no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. There are people who maintain friendships with others whose lifestyles are unacceptable before God and they fail to tell them the truth. They claim they love these people, hence they won’t ‘judge’ them. Some Christians also walk on this path. “Judge not, that ye may not be judged” is their favorite passage to back their inaction. They see people on erroneous paths and fail to tell them the truth. To them, love means accepting people and turning a blind eye to their errors. Anyone who confronts their errors is seen to be prudish. This is a hypocritical way to live as a Christian: You would not do what they do because you know God does not approve of it, yet you would not speak against. Unfortunately, this is not the love that God teaches us. God receives sinners, yet condemns sin. We see this demonstrated in the lifetime of Jesus. He openly condemned evil among men. He criticized the Pharisees in Matthew 22:13-39 but he chose Paul, a former persecutor of Christians as a tool to spread his gospel. What this means is that God who is Love Himself, is willing to look past your errors as long as you are willing to let them go. You cannot hold on to your wrong lifestyle and ask Him to accept you as you are. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). We cannot continue in sin and pray for grace to continue (Romans 6:1).   

Truth in love

Confronting people with the truth however, should be done in love. Correct people with an intent to win them over for God, not to break them or make them feel worthless and condemned. Everyone should learn to strike a good balance between love and truth. Do not open your eyes to one and close your eyes to the other.

Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)   

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9)

When you hold back correction in order not to offend an erring child, friend, brother, sister or spouse, you are not representing God and that means you are not representing love because God is love (1 John 4:16).

Love must be sincere; not hypocritical. If you love them, tell them the truth and when you tell them the truth, do it lovingly. Not by nagging, but with gentle reminders (Galatians 6:1) and direct rebuke when necessary (Titus 2:15). The truth is not based on personal opinions but on God’s standard. When it comes to you, consider it in good fate because it’s an indication that God loves you as a legitimate child (Hebrews 12:6, 8).

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