when truth hurts

Keiko Yamada
Nov 24
4 min read

Set Apart, 2023 (10th painting of Love Series Paintings)

Artwork inspired by John 17:17

Keiko Yamada

Acrylic Painting on Canvas

24 x 30 inch

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a

When I was about six or seven, PlayStation games were extremely popular among my friends (perhaps most of people who grew up in Asia in '80s can relate). I didn't own one, so I often ended up at my friends' houses, playing it for hours and indulging myself in the fun.

Back then, I had a strict 6 p.m curfew. But one day, the game was just too fun to walk away from, and by the time I realized, it was already way past my curfew.

With a guilty heart, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant solution: "You know what? I'll just move the hands on my watch and tell Mom it's still six o'clock!" I honestly believed she would buy it and I'd get away with everything.

When I finally got home, my mom was definitely not happy. She said, "What time were you supposed to come back? I was worried about you!!"

So I presented my "master plan." I held out my watch and said,

"Well, Mom, it's still six o'clock on my watch"

You can imagine how well that went. She was furious, and deservedly so.

That day, I realized that lies can't protect me the way I hoped they would. Even if i told the truth, she would still have been upset, so lying felt easier in the moment.

Sometimes the truth—whether about what happened, or about someone’s real state—is so uncomfortable that we’d rather avoid it.If the truth were always pleasant and beautiful, we wouldn’t feel the need to hide from it. But in reality, truth can be ugly. Truth can hurt.

No matter how great we appear on the outside, there are parts of us we’d rather hide—parts we hope no one, not even God, notices.

Yet in 1 Corinthians 13:6, we read that love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

What kind of love is that?

This artwork was born out of my reflection on that question.

Here are several translations of the same verse:

It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (ESV)
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (NLT)
Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (NKJV)

📖　PAUSE ＆ REFLECT（Defining love)

What do you think it means that “love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth”?

Does any biblical figure, historical example, or real-life moment come to mind?

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telling the truth in love

1 Corinthians was written to a church where all sorts of wrongdoings were happening.They called themselves Christians, yet some were openly proud of sins that even unbelievers didn’t tolerate (1 Corinthians 5:1–3). People were mistreated during communion, and some were even drunk during the Lord’s Supper.

It would have been easy for Paul to say, “You Corinthians are making us look bad!”

But that’s not what he said.

Instead, he told them the truth—not to shame them, but because true love doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness.He named what was wrong and led them toward truth, the place where they could love God and each other rightly.

📖　PAUSE ＆ REFLECT（Dilemma of Telling the Truth)

Are there times when we care more about how we appear to others than about speaking the truth in love?

What keeps us from being honest?

What does it look like to tell the truth in love instead of from judgment?

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Truth sanctifies

As I reflected on what it means for love to rejoice with the truth, I thought about Jesus’ words in John 17:17:

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

His word never changes and never loses its power. For generations, the Word has exposed the reality of our hearts.

Honestly, when my pride or self-deception is exposed by His word, it hurts.There is so much within me that wants to pretend I can be someone without God—the very One who created and loves me. I would rather not admit it. But that is the true condition of my heart—and that is who Christ died for.

Seeing the truth about myself also shows the depth of His love for me and what He accomplished on the cross.To fully receive His love, I need the unchanging truth—God’s view of who I am and who He is.

What Christ seeks to refine is like gold refined by fire, purified into something strong and beautiful so that we can bear fruit—fruit that lasts.

This artwork shows a vine being sanctified by His word—refined by holy fire like gold.