“If you have a choice between being right and being love, choose the latter.”

There are many facets of life about which Christians have strong opinions.
These opinions come from our understanding of Biblical truths.

And that's good.

But often I fear that we forget that while we are called to speak the truth, we are called to do so in love.

Far too often I feel that we are far better at speaking the truth as we see it in tactlessness.

Examples of this include:

"Oh my gosh, how can anyone murder their own child?" (abortion)

"They have surrendered themselves to utter depravity of mind and soul!" (homosexuality)

"I don't understand how they can claim to know Jesus and be depressed…" (mental illness)

Is love, the gracious love of Jesus Christ, at the very heart of these statements?

I beg you, Christians of the 21st century, particularly those using the internet, think before you comment! Think of how what you're saying might come across to someone who has been through or is going through the thing that you are talking about. Think whether what you are saying is going to express your honest opinion lovingly or hurtfully.

To use abortion as an example.

I know women who have had abortions. You probably do too, even if they haven't told you about it. For some of these women, their decision was made because they felt pressured, were misinformed, or mentally in a terrible place.

The impact of their decision is ongoing. Some have suffered depression and other mental illnesses as a result of their mind tormenting them over their decision.

And then you call them a ‘murderer’.

You rub salt into an open wound.

You add to their pain and suffering.

You give them another reason to hate themselves for their decision.

I'm glad that you got your opinion out, Christian on the internet. But, unfortunately, you may well have done far more harm than good.You have taken an issue you are objectively opposed to and you have brutally cut down a subjective victim of that issue. You make them faceless, nameless, and you dismiss their plight for the sake of your being ‘Biblically correct’.

The same can be said for homosexuality. Many people with same sex attraction who attend or are involved in churches hide deep in the closet.

Why? Because they constantly see people talking about how disgusting, depraved, vile they are. They are subjected to incessant comments about how people don't understand how anyone could like "that".

The end result? You drive them out, and without even knowing that you're doing it. You drive vulnerable children of God out of your churches and into the arms of a world which does not practically (in other words, with their words and actions) hate them. I have heard Christians wax lyrical about the high rate of mental illness in the homosexual community with not a thought to the possibility that their very words might be contributing to that very struggle in a listener’s life. And this makes me want to hit you over the head with an ironing board.

I fear that this is exactly what many Christians do, albeit most of the time without even knowing (which does not make it excusable), when they start their comment wars on social media. And I know that I haven't been as tactful as I should. I am no saint. But I know firsthand the damage that can be done.

Obviously there are plenty of other examples I could use.

But hopefully you get the point from this.

So please, please, please think about the impact of what you're saying, posting, commenting before you say, post or comment it.

Rather than telling you, Christian, what you should do, I’ll leave you will a story that may (or may not) be familiar to you…

The Christians brought a woman who had just had her child aborted before their King, making her stand in front of everyone who was looking on. ‘Jesus,’ they said, ‘this woman was caught murdering her unborn child. In the Bible, it tells us that all human life is sacred and that even an unborn child is loved by God. This woman should be condemned! What do you say?’

He stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding him for an answer, so he stood and said: ‘You who has never done any wrong will be the one to condemn her first.’

Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When they heard this, one by one they left, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus and the woman who was to be condemned were left.

When Jesus stood up again, he said to the woman: ‘Where are they? Did not one of them condemn you?’

She answered: ‘No one, Lord.’

Jesus replied: ‘Nor do I.’