To celebrate the release of the revised The Person of Jesus, Unit 2: Honesty study, we invited Timo Strawbridge, Director of Spiritual Life at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, FL, to join Paul and Liz for a conversation on how Jesus' honesty helps us.
"One of the things that just shocked me about Jesus was his honesty. I was trying to read the gospels and say, 'Okay, if this guy were at my house, what would I notice about him?' He said things and talked like he didn't care what people thought about him!"
"The goal of Jesus’ honesty is not to make his life less painful because he has less weird or obnoxious people in it – his goal is to draw people into the life of his Father."
"You really need to combine compassion and honesty. In a difficult relationship, it's a compassionate act to invite honesty or to hold off on your honesty to let people speak into your life. Jesus constantly begins with understanding, so there's a kind of a general order there: begin with compassion and let that shape your honesty. Honesty's a little bit like pepper or hot salsa – a little goes a long way!"