Do You Need Correction?

I bet you don't like to be corrected. None of us do. Even when we know we are wrong we would rather just let it pass unnoticed, to fade away, to be forgotten. None of us like to face our mistakes, take a good look at our actions and be corrected for them. Yes, correction is vital for our growth as a person, in relationships and in our preparations for eternity.

It is embarrassing to be wrong but it is even more embarrassing to continue to be wrong; to repeat the same mistake over and over again. We need someone who is strong enough in our lives, who we give permission to help us learn and grow from our mistakes. As children it was our parents. As adults we need to choose someone. Ultimately it is our Father who ensures that we receive correction, not for punishment but for growth:

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights. (Psalm 3:11-12)

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we should be encouraged by the correction of the Lord because it means we are legitimate children. Fathers only correct their own children. So we should be concerned if we are not receiving correction:

But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. (Hebrews 12:8)

No correction is meant to destroy us. The Lord does not want to destroy but to build us up, to mature us, to prepare us for eternity. No one enjoys correction but under Father's loving hand we can be assured that it is for our good, our benefit.  Don't hate him for it but rejoice that it is a sign that you are a legitimate child. Don't try to avoid it but embrace it as a natural part of our development.

We are not perfect. We mess up. We need to be corrected. We need to be kept on the right path. We need to be told where we were wrong and what we can do to correct our actions. We need it and the Father does it because he loves us. He loves us, we can trust him, even in the correction. Without correction we will end up independent, spoiled children, cut off from our inheritance because we thought we knew better than our Father. Don't go there.