What It Means to Walk in the Truth
When I was younger, I thought knowing about God was enough. I read every theology book I could get my hands on: John Calvin, C.S. Lewis, and everyone in between. My shelves filled up. I figured that if I could just get the truth right in my head, closeness to God would follow.
It took me a long time to realize that truth isn’t just something we know. It’s something we live. John’s third letter, although short, makes this clear.
John begins the letter addressing his friend:
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth (3 John 1:1 NIV).
“Loving in the truth” is a strange phrase. How does someone do that? And John keeps pairing truth with action. He rejoices that his spiritual children are walking in the truth (3 John 1:4). He urges Gaius to welcome traveling believers so that we may work together for the truth (3 John 1:8).
We usually treat truth the way we treat a fact. The sun is about 93 million miles from Earth. There are 50 states. You learn it, store it, and move on. But for John, truth is a road you walk and work you share. Gaius showed it by opening his home to strangers. Meanwhile, a church leader named Diotrephes refused to welcome them and pushed out anyone who did (3 John 1:9-10).
In another letter, John says, Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18). Love that stays in words isn’t “love in the truth.” James makes the same point about God’s Word: Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22 NKJV). Knowing about Jesus and His Gospel isn’t enough—you have to live it.
That’s the part I missed during my bookshelf years. The night before the cross, Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6 NIV). He didn’t say He teaches the truth. He said He is the truth.
You can’t know a person the way you know the distance to the sun. You know a person by spending time with them, listening to them, going where they go. Maybe that’s why John talks about walking in the truth. It means walking with Jesus every day.
I still love those books, but I’ve come to see them as letters about a Friend. They’re worth reading, but only because they tell me about who He is. They’re no substitute for living with Him.
Whatever your shelf holds, whether sermons, podcasts, or a Bible full of highlights, ask yourself today: What do I know about Jesus that I haven’t yet lived?
Jesus, You are the truth. Don’t let me settle for knowing about You. Draw me close enough to know You, and let that show in how I love, how I welcome, and how I walk today. Amen.
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Scripture is taken from: THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide; and the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About The Author
Griff is a proofreader and writer in CBN’s Direct Marketing division. He lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with his wife and two dogs. When not reading or writing, he enjoys playing guitar and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.
