One of the things we seem to have lost these days is the ability to disagree with civility. How often do you see politicians tearing one another apart, or those from the LGBTQIA+ lobby vilifying Christians and vice versa? Whatever happened to the ability to debate and disagree respectfully?

In 18^th Century England, William Wilberforce led the fight to abolish the slave trade. He was relentless in confronting the evil of slavery, exposing its horrors with unflinching clarity.

Yet he treated his opponents with grace, never vilifying them personally. Year after year, he pleaded with Parliament, not in anger but with humility and compassion. He separated the evil of slavery from the people caught in its systems—hard on the problem, soft on the people. His love-fuelled truth-speaking eventually helped bring the trade to an end.

Ephesians 4:14-15 We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to deceive us—those who make clever plans and use every kind of trick to fool others into following the wrong way. No, we will speak the truth with love. We will grow to be like Christ in every way.

Make no mistake, we’re surrounded by entrenched evil on every side. People with vested interests, economic systems benefiting the few through the misery of others, all sorts of wrongs being peddled as rights. And they make clever arguments to convince us to stand with them.

But like Wilberforce, the best response is to be soft on the person and hard on the problem. God’s love doesn’t avoid truth—it just delivers it with kindness, not contempt.

Speak the truth with love. Grow to be like Christ in every way.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.