Corrected

I have this phrase that I use. “If I’m doing something wrong, tell me. Because if you don’t tell me that I’m doing something wrong, I’m going to keep doing it that way.” If I’m doing it wrong and don’t know then I am going to keep doing it that way because I don’t know because nobody tells me. I want to be teachable.

Somehow in society and even in church many have reached the point that they don’t want to be told that they are doing something wrong. They don’t want to be corrected. It’s really human nature I guess, to not want to be told that you’re doing something wrong. If you want to get better though, you’ll need to know how. The Word says in Proverbs 25:11 (KJV) A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. We often look at this, and I feel that we look at it as just a word of encouragement. Yes, it can be a word of encouragement, but if you receive a rebuke that pushes you closer to God isn’t that good? After all it says in Proverbs 27:5 (Easy English) A good friend will tell you when you have done something wrong. He will tell you even in front of other people. That is better than someone who loves you secretly. Again in Psalm 141:5 (NHEB) Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; do not let my head refuse it. These are words of men that are more concerned with being right with God than their own personal feelings. Shouldn’t that be our goal to be right with God and not just feel the need to always be right? 

Now, there is a way to tell people and it should be done in love although it may be delivered with stern words. My Daddy loved me dearly, but some of the conversations we had didn’t feel like loving ones. It was because he loved me though, that he corrected me. You can also see this by reading the Word. How often were people corrected and told to repent?

Hearing the word repent may seem harsh to those who have never experienced what it can do for you. Those who proclaimed repentance in the Word were coming from a place of love, because they knew otherwise the hearers would perish. If someone is in a burning building and you yell at them “GET OUT”, it’s understood that you aren’t being harsh, but you are expressing the urgency of the matter. It’s the same way with God, we must understand if something is coming between us and God, it is an urgent matter that needs immediate attention. 

So if you have to correct someone, do it from a place of love, wanting only to see them do better. If you are corrected, receive it. Not with anger, but with this thought in mind. If this pushes me closer to God, I’ll take it.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 KJV It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Proverbs 9:8 NLT

8. …correct the wise, and they will love you.