Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I thank God for the grace and mercy he has shown in our lives by preserving us from all kinds of disasters. Just because the government has relaxed the rules, do not think that all the problems are over, or that we are totally free from all kinds of sicknesses. It is crucial that we always sit in the presence of God to find out, “Am I living for God? Am I living in him? And Am I living through him?” Unless these questions become our lifestyle, we will not be protected from the destruction. We live in a religious Christian system where there is no foundation of biblical truth. Therefore, dear fellow Christians, guard your garments of salvation with all that you have. Give priority to protect what is important in your life, so that your lives can be protected from the fowler’s snare.
So far, God gave us the grace to meditate many important points in the topic, Conversation: 1) Argument is not healthy or Godly, 2) Importance of listening to others’ opinions, 3) Giving others their space and time to realise their shortcomings, and 4) Do not judge. In this week, we are going to see the importance of correction in a conversation. In a conversation, we cannot avoid correction; correction is a must for Godly conversations. Hence, whenever you see a godly conversation, there will be a correction in it. There are few important steps that I want to discuss about correction.
What is correction?
Proverbs 10:17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray. Unless you have the love of God, you will not have the ability to include corrections in your conversations. We love our selves, so we greatly desire to avoid all kinds of problems that we face, and we are not willing to suffer for others’ sake. Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. In a conversation, if you do not warn the other person how and what is destroying his/her life, you are going to pay for it. Hence, in a conversation we need to offer correction to our fellow brothers and sisters in fixing their way of destruction into the way of life. In Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. Therefore, if you help your fellow Christian, you are going to reap the blessings. It is our Christian duty and life to help others to fix their life so that our lives can be protected.
Who is worthy to receive correction?
Many times, we try to correct a wrong person and end up hurting them as well as our selves. The good example for this is Peter and Judas. In fact, Peter denied Jesus, cursed Him, and confessed before everyone that he does not know Him. Yet, he was still corrected by God. On other hand, Judas become unworthy for the correction and never received it. What was the difference? There is a vital difference between using God and worshiping God. Judas sold Jesus Christ for 30 silver coins. It was a pre-planned betrayal. We know from the Bible that the Pharisees discussed about it with him and he agreed to it for personal gains. We see in Exodus 21:14 But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die. When there is premeditation in a deed, even the alter will not deliver a man because he did it in a pre-planned way. Hence, a person who makes a mistake in a pre-planned way for a personal gain is not worthy of correction. Therefore, when an intention develops in your heart, instead of entertaining that, better submit to the Lord, so that Jesus Christ can help you to crucify your flesh. However, if you do not submit it to be crucified, then the warning will become the reason for the wrath of God to come upon you. Following references will help you to understand this better. Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And in Ephesians 2:3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. It is clear from these verses that a person who uses God for their benefits is not worthy to enjoy the love and life which comes through the correction.
Who has the ability to correct others?
Just because someone has the knowledge about a subject and experience in it, does not mean he/ she has the qualification to correct a person. Many people think that telling a particular person about his/her mistakes or pointing it out is correction and that it will help them. Actually, that is the work of Satan. He will always point out our mistakes and make us live in our guilt. Such people always give a false impression that they are the ones who are helping you and you are the one who is responsible for the destruction. This is not correction but accusation. This is not from God. Take the example of the Lady who was caught in the act of sin. We can see in John 8th Chapter that Jesus Christ did not prove to her or inform her or convince her that the act she committed was sin. Instead, when she was accused and judged, he allowed himself to be accused and judged with her. A person who is not willing to be accused and judged with the criminal is not eligible to be a correcting person. Secondly, there is a very small but very effective step in correction, which is, removing the guilty conscience from one’s life. When everyone accused the wrong doer, Jesus Christ used his authority and power to defend the lady and destroyed the advantage of the accusers by convicting them of their mistakes. This did not allow any guilty conscience to develop in her. Finally, an important qualification that Jesus showed is the assurance he gave to her by the promise, “Neither do I condemn you.” He communicated that he is not going to judge her, nor is going to have a conversation about how and why she made that mistake. Even a single word is not spoken by Jesus Christ about her mistake. Instead, he helped her to forget the low phase of her life and encouraged her by saying, “sin no more.” Here, we can see the love of Jesus Christ. He hated the sin but not the sinner. A person who loves you not by the words from their lips, but by dying for you and owning your sin and paying the price of your mistakes is the right person to correct you. That is why Jesus Christ corrects the person whom He loves.
When correction will be a blessing to a person?
Many people think that if they have all the details about a sin and its consequences, they will be delivered from sinning. This is not the truth, and it is against the word of God. If at all the above-mentioned information is needed for your salvation, it will be given in your life. In the same way, many people are putting in their genuine efforts to be corrected, but once they do not see results, they become very frustrated and lose the hope of their transformation and start living in their sinful lives again. This is also a work of Satan. Inheriting the joy and blessing of correction is nothing but entering through the narrow gate. Many have the desire to be delivered from sin and put a lot of effort into this desire, but they fail to find the way. Hence, we are going see an example to find the way to inherit the blessings of correction. In 2 Samuel 24: 13 & 14 So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” Here, we can see how David is submitting his life into the hands of God. Many people submit their lives in a religious way, and not in a spiritual way. Submission has two important parts to it. First, once we submit our life or problem to God, we must stop evaluating it. Once we give that authority to God, unless God gives His opinion, we should not think about it. We should disconnect ourselves from the problem. Second, we should give the authority to decide the plan of action to our saviour, Jesus Christ. These two parts need to be implemented in our submission, so that it will be a spiritual one rather than a ritualistic and religious one. Otherwise, it will not yield any transformation in your character. Using self efforts instead of submission will only give false satisfaction which will deceive you and destroy you.
Dear Church, therefore, keep on submitting to God, so that you can be blessed with His joy and happiness. I want to close this week’s newsletter with this submission: Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? May our saviour Jesus Christ show us His mercy, so that we can have His favour to submit our lives into the hands of our potter like a clay till we meet Him face to face.
God Bless you.