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.

Don't Waste Your Sin

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. " - George Santayana

Most of us can attest to the truth of this statement. We may understand it from a different perspective like, a mistake is not a waste if we learn from it. Some of the greatest lessons in history and our personal lives were the precursor to some great advances. But how different it could have been if we had failed to learn.

We see this in our relationship with Jesus as well. Nothing is a waste when Yahweh is involved:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) 

But what a mess it becomes when we refuse to remember and refuse to learn.

Remember Aaron's mistake (sin) when he made the golden calf and called it the god who had rescued Israel? The nation was almost wiped out on the spot. You would think it would be an historical sin that no one would repeat. Not so. When the kingdom became divided there was concern that people would eventually move to Judah because of the temple. So guess what they did?

Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28)

They did what most of us do, they not only repeated their sin but doubled it. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." - Rita Mae Brown. Insanity or not it is what we do with sin when we are not strong in the Lord. Sin seems to cloud our mind but the presence of the Spirit frees it. In the Spirit we are able discern but without him we continue to repeat our sins.

We can't do it on our own and we need to stop trying. We are wasting time, effort and opportunities. If we are really interested in spiritual growth and development we need to embrace the lessons that come from the sins of our past and be willing to be taught in every situation we face. It is part of growing up.

Jesus Knew Even Before You Did It

Many days of our lives we can be accused of making a god after our own image. He study the Bible, learn about Yahweh, worship him but then change small details to suit our own needs. You don't think so? Then I challenge you to read the entire Bible in 90 days (YouVersion has a Bible Reading Plan for 90 days) and come face to face with who is Yahweh, the true Yahweh, Yahweh the just, Yahweh the righteous. There is a reason why Scriptures says it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

One thing that cannot be mistaken in any of the Scriptures is that Yahweh is full of grace, but we are also warned never to allow grace to be an excuse to sin. We do not understand how much grace is already being shown to us every day. Sometimes we do not even consider how our actions will impact our Father. We do not consider how our actions will effect our testimony. We do not consider how our actions and words impact the way the world looks at our God. Yahweh does.

Our Father knows our words even before they are on our lips. He knows the actions we will take even before we take them. He knows the decisions we will make and he knows our motivation. He knows the end from the beginning and he knows the roots. He sees the outcome of the words we speak and the decisions we take today even when we can't. It is no different today than in the days of Moses.

Yahweh knew before he sent Israel into the promised land that they would reject him and take on the gods of the other nations. He knew that they would do this and he knew the actions he would have to take:

Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. (Deuteronomy 31:16-17)

Nothing is hidden from our God, not even our future. Then why does he allow it to happen? If nothing surprises Yahweh, why does he not stop the rebellion before it begins? Let me remind you that anything that is against the will of the Father is rebellion. What kind of rebellion do you and I live in every day as we make decisions with no thought of Jesus, his righteous ways and his will for our lives? How often do we decide against the righteousness of Yahweh without giving it a second thought? Ignorance is no excuse. He is suppose to be our "everything" and we are suppose to be consumed by passion for the Name.

The reason Yahweh does not stop us is two-fold. First, he created us as a creation with a free will. We have the freedom to make our own decisions. Jesus set us free from the slavery of sin so we could have the freedom to decide for him instead of against him, and we still have that freedom today. If Yahweh interferes with that freedom he goes against his own purpose. He desires for us to love him freely.

The second is that our Father uses these times of rebellion for training us. We are his children and he will correct us. He allows us to make mistakes, to rebel but then he brings in the correction to increase us. No punishment is meant as a revenge but as a teaching opportunity. We may not like the correction but it certainly brings us closer to our Father and that is what he is looking for.

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. (Hebrews 12:7-8)

The sad thing is that we usually try to find the short cut out of the correction instead of standing up under it. In this world of self-satisfaction and instant gratification, enduring the correction of our Father is a foreign concept. It could be one reason why there are so many babies running around needing their diapers changed and precious few mature men and women of faith. Sin happens, mistakes will be made, Jesus knows all about it and the Father loves you enough to bring correction. Stand up under it and be increased or slink away into the dark to find your own solutions and lose out. It is your decision, just don't a god after your own image to excuse it away.

Are We Representing Jesus Well?

The one thing that should concern us is, are we representing Jesus well. It is unfortunate that often times we still allow our old nature to dictate our behaviour and actions. Sometimes we say and do things without even processing what the potential outcome will be. We feel the emotion and allow ourselves to react. He have the thought and speak it out loud. The network television stations have a 3 or 5 second delay on their live shows so they can bleep out things that are inappropriate. It is too bad we don't have the same delay built into our personal system. It is why our mothers taught us to count to ten before reacting to things that made us mad.

We live in an age where a lot of our personal, private thoughts are now shared with everyone. Those things we use to think, process and often times throw away, are now shared across the world. You would think that we would use some kind of filter to prevent these things from harming others, but many of us don't. In doing this we fail to represent Jesus. And it is all about representing Jesus.

If we have any doubt about our behaviour, and even if we don't, we should be comparing ourselves to what we find in God's Word. We don't compare ourselves to other Christians but to Jesus and what God says is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. He has called us to his holiness and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not good enough to excuse our behaviour with "I'm tired" (one I use a lot) or "I'm only human". Excuses don't cut it with God and he is the one to whom we answer. We have to bow before him and own our fault, confess it and allow him to remove it from us.

We shouldn't need people to correct us; we should see and know our errors, faults and sins as soon as they happen. We know it because we know the Word of God. We know because we are convicted by the Holy Spirit. Don't ruin that. Don't deny the correction of the Spirit through the Word. Don't become insensitive by trying to justify yourself before God:

Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

It isn't about us. If we have done something outside of the character of Jesus we need to deal with it so it doesn't get in the way. It is always about Jesus. Always. We represent him, not our church, not our family, not ourselves; only Jesus. And because of that we need to follow the instructions set out before us in the Word of God for dealing with our faults, sins and mistakes. There is a correct way to behave and the Word of God gives it to us. This is the only code of behaviour we measure ourselves against.

Are we representing Jesus well?