Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
One mark of a decent lawyer is that they love their client enough to tell them the truth even when it might be uncomfortable for the client to hear.
In some respects, it’s a similar quality that you find in a good friend. As I often say to young lawyers: “A good friend loves you enough to tell you that you need a breath mint.”
In the letter to the Ephesians, we get a glimpse of how good a truly Christian community could be. One feature of this Church community is that the people are “speaking the truth in love” to one another. And the results of doing so are beautiful.
Our relationships with clients are, obviously, different to our relationships within the Church. But can we learn something from this?
Too often lawyers can fall into the trap of unquestioningly doing whatever their client says, without ever challenging them. It’s important that lawyers regain the skill of “speaking the truth” and feeling able to challenge unhealthy strategies their own clients may want to adopt.
Similarly, when we do challenge our own clients, it’s good to do it “in love” and, therefore, in a manner and with an outlook that reflects that.
Lawyering is difficult and we can easily get these things wrong. But, when we do, let us run to Jesus. In Him there is forgiveness and grace. And He offers us His Holy Spirit to guide us going forward.
Prayer points
• Rejoice in the forgiveness and grace that is available in Jesus for our mistakes.
• Seek the Lord’s guidance for the times when we need to speak the truth in love to those around us – may we be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
