The Love That Stands

“Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength....For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.“
– Ephesians 6:10, 13

I don’t take these words lightly…

For a long time, I’ve held back from saying what I really believe. Not because I’m unsure, but because I was afraid of being misunderstood or hurting someone I care about—or sounding like one more angry voice in a world full of shouting. I know the pressure to stay quiet. I understand the urge to soften the truth to avoid upsetting anyone.

But recently, God’s been stirring something deeper in me. I’ve been reminded that love without truth isn’t really love, and truth without love isn’t really Christian.

I heard a sentence in a sermon not long ago that hasn’t left me:

“Jesus never said ‘it’s okay to not love some people.’ ”

That undid me. Because that’s what I want to live out: that love, that truth, that stand.

Two Kinds of Pride

This time of year, I hear a lot about pride—a word that carries many meanings. We know that culturally, Pride Month celebrates identity and self-expression. Scripture, however, warns that pride can lead to destruction (Proverbs 16:18). It reminds me that while celebrating who we are is one thing, there’s a deeper kind of pride that blinds us all — one I want to recognize in myself first.

I’ve seen two kinds of pride up close:

• The religious kind that keeps us from loving others.
  It says, “I’m better because I believe the truth.” Without love, though, my words are just noise. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

• The self-made kind that keeps us from surrendering to God.
  It says, “No one tells me who I am — not even God.” But this self-made freedom often leads to deeper chains.

Both kinds of pride can keep us far from Jesus.

What the Rainbow Still Means

So many people around us experience or recognize differing sexual orientations. Listening to their stories and looking into their eyes reminds me to see people as Jesus sees them—not labels, not categories. That kind of connection helps me stop judging a book by its cover.

But I also noticed something else. Harshness and judgment can show up in all of us, regardless of what we believe. Pride blinds us all in different ways.

And it wasn’t just in others.

I remember sitting in the public library downtown and watching homeless men and women wander in after the food bank closed. They’d slump into chairs or hover near the restrooms, clearly just looking for a safe, dry place to be. Or I’d pass by the men drinking behind the gas station dumpster and assume their suffering was their own fault — that their choices had landed them there and that I would never end up like them.

It took time — and God’s grace — to see what I’d missed: real people with stories, wounds, and needs I couldn’t begin to imagine. The love of Jesus didn’t overlook their pain, and it didn’t ignore their sin. It reached into both. That’s the kind of love I want to live and speak.

And that brings me to the rainbow.

In Genesis 9, God gave the rainbow as a sign of His mercy—a promise not to destroy the world again with a flood:

“I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
– Genesis 9:13

It was a holy reminder that even after judgment, God leans toward restoration. Today, the rainbow carries a different meaning in culture. But I still believe its original meaning matters. It speaks of God’s patience, God’s promises, and God’s heart to redeem.
It’s not a banner of self-expression.
It’s a banner of God’s faithfulness.

The Real Battle

Ephesians 6 talks about standing. Not yelling, not shaming, but standing.

““For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.ake up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.” (v.13)

Standing for truth. Standing in love. Standing in Christ.
It’s spiritual warfare—not against people, but against the lies and forces of an enemy that would keep all of us divided, confused, and far from God.

I don’t want to stand against people. I want to stand with Jesus. In humility. In love. In clarity.

And yes, it’s hard. People may hear judgment when all I mean to offer is grace. They may call me intolerant when all I want to do is be faithful. But still, aren’t we called to stand?

Love That Tells the Truth

“Love is love,” people say.
But not all love leads to life.
If love asks us to ignore truth, it isn’t love. It’s sentiment. Jesus’ love is different. It’s holy. Self-giving. Gracious and truthful. (John 1:14)

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
—Romans 5:8

That’s the love I want to stand for. That’s the love I want to speak from.

Final Thoughts

I don’t have a title or a ministry badge.
I’m not trying to be loud.
I’m just a man who knows he needs grace.
I’m learning to speak up.
I believe Jesus is still the answer—for me, for you, and for everyone we don’t know how to love yet.

If this made you feel seen, unsettled, or encouraged…I’m glad you’re here. I don’t pretend to have it all figured out. But I do know this much:

“Let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.”
—1 John 3:18

“And having prepared everything, to take your stand.”
—Ephesians 6:13

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
Photo by Loris Tissino on Unsplash