More on team life:

Truth is the foundational part of our spiritual armor, and is to be spoken in love, for the purpose of restoration, not accusation. In John 3:16 we see that demonstrated: because God is merciful with us, we can bear to hear the truth that we are sinners. And, as we are merciful with others, they will be more willing to hear truth about a blind spot they have—and if they are merciful with us, we will be more willing to have our blind spots pointed out.

The practical aspect of this is that we should take time to learn the truth about others. Many times, we jump to conclusions about another’s actions or words or motives without bothering to find out, in a non-accusing manner, the intent and background.

Here on our team, we are committed to each other. Each of us is a miracle of God, redeemed and justified, called and transformed, sent to this difficult country to work together. And we are committed to living together in Mercy and Truth so that we may be more useful for God.

The last part of Proverbs 3:4 points out that if we do live in mercy and truth, we will be better witnesses for God: “…so shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and men.” This is a very good motive to get along well with my family, my teammates and my fellow believers!