Mark Twain

Mark Twain once said, “Last week, I stated a certain woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.”

Twain’s humorous comment points out the difficulty of being truthful and graceful at the same time. I suppose that there are some opinions that we should keep to ourselves in order to spare the feelings of others.

However, there are some truths that must not be withheld from people because they are critically important. It is essential that these truths be delivered with all the grace that we can possibly muster, so that the message will be more likely to be accepted.

Jesus was a master at being completely truthful and, at the same time, completely graceful. We would do well to try to imitate him in this regard.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”—John 1:14.