My husband, Luke, recently gave a sermon on the topic of receiving correction (which I highly recommend listening to HERE if you want to learn more). The conversations we had as he prepared to share with our church body along with some recent personal experiences have served to illuminate more fully for me both the difficulty and the value of correction.
I don’t think anyone gets very excited about being corrected. And, I know I personally bristle a bit when correction first comes my way. But, I don’t want to. Hebrews 12: 11 says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Though it can be difficult to hear, correction is ultimately for my good. It helps reveal my bad fruit—my sin, selfishness, pride, and poor motives. It brings those things into the light so they can be pruned and thrown away, allowing me instead to bear the peaceful and good fruit I desire.
When Luke was preparing his sermon, one of his favorite verses on the topic was Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” Unfortunately, I am “stupid” in this way a lot, but I desire to be a lover of correction and to grow in the knowledge and joy it produces. So, I am asking for the Lord to help me in this area—to help me not bristle and balk at reproof but rather to embrace it as His loving kindness meant to help me grow in His likeness. The Lord is clear in His Word that He disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6, Proverbs 3:11-12). Thus, I don’t want to become weary of the reproof I receive from Him through others but rather rejoice in it—knowing that my loving Father is using it to equip me for every good work and to move me toward completeness in Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17). I pray we could walk alongside each other in this challenge, sharpening one another as we learn to gently correct out of love and care and to receive correction with thankfulness and joy. “And, I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
By Katie Miller
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