“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.” Job 5:17(NLT)

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:3(NLT), “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” It’s a mistake to think that we can live a successful Christian life without the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit. He is our Teacher, Comforter, Helper, and Guide, and we desperately need him as we make our way through the rocky terrain of life on earth. As we are guided by the Spirit, it’s inevitable that we will be both convicted and corrected through God’s amazing grace. He lovingly chastises us, but for many of us, this is a very challenging part of our Christian walk, because we often think we’re better than we really are. We’re not evaluating and measuring ourselves by the faith God has given us, but instead, we’re measuring ourselves by the world’s standards, and this is can cause us to lose our way.

Ephesians 2:8-10(NLT) says, “8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Through His beloved and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, and when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness and made right with God.

Our Heavenly Father has given us all these extraordinarily good gifts and blessings because He loves us. We couldn’t do anything to earn salvation, He’s given it out of His amazing grace. We are living in His grace, and we should always be mindful that He saved us because we desperately needed to be saved. Even now that we have been made brand new in Christ, as 2Corinthians 5:17 says, we still make mistakes and miss the mark sometimes.

There are plenty of times in life where we think we’re doing everything the way we should, but in fact, there are emotions and thoughts operating in the background that reveal our actions are not grounded in God’s love. Our motives are not always Godly and pure, and sometimes, we’re more interested in carrying out our own agendas than we are carrying out God’s agenda. Many of us present one persona in public—the humble Christian, but when no one is looking, we’re petty, unthankful, selfish, gossipy, and dabbling in all sorts of fruits of darkness. We talk about it, but we’re not about it, and this is not a heart that pleases God.

He doesn’t kick us to the curb. Our extraordinarily loving and wonderful Heavenly Father would never do something like that. He corrects us. Hebrews 12:6(ESV) tells us, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” And Revelation 3:19(ESV) says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” God’s goal for every believer is that we grow in Christ with each passing day. Our spiritual growth and maturity are His priority. He knows we’re going to make mistakes, but He wants us to learn from them so that we go higher in Christ.

Being called out on our flaws and having our mistakes put on blast is never easy. It may feel like those you thought were in your corner are acting against you, but often this should be viewed as a wakeup call. We think we’ve got it all together, but we’re repeating mistakes, not paying attention, and through others, Heavenly Father is telling us we need to snap out of it.

When we stand for Christ, we must also stand to be corrected according to God’s Will and Word. John 8:32 (NLT)says “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Without truth, there’s no way for us to walk in confidence or faith. We should never turn a blind eye to God’s correction. We need to know the truth when our behaviors, attitudes, and actions are leading us away from the example of Christ. The reproof of God’s Word, the pushback from others, and the consequences of not paying enough attention to our spiritual growth may be uncomfortable, but it will improve us in Godliness. Of course, it hurts when our mistakes and missteps are brought to light, but the fruit that will be produced once that seed of knowledge and correction is planted will allow for a beautiful harvest in our lives and in our relationship with Heavenly Father. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

 “You Must Stand Corrected”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.