Correction

Thursday, January 13, 2011 - Thoughts from the One Year Bible

Correction
Proverbs 3:11-12 - "My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

How many times was I corrected as a young boy? Too many to count. What do I remember most of many of those corrections? My father saying to me, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." Wanna bet? At least that is what I thought until one day I heard myself say to my own child, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." I suddenly found myself laughing on the inside as I immediately went back in time and my father's words echoed through the chambers of my mind. Why in the world would he say such a thing? Why did I say it? Discovery - when we love someone deeply, we are grieved when we must bring discipline into their lives. We know it will hurt them in the short term. We risk the possibility of rejection. We risk misunderstanding. We risk a potential break in relationship. We risk creating anger in the one whom we discipline.

The writer of this Proverb came to understand the loving touch of God's discipline. "Don't reject the Lord's discipline...don't be upset when He corrects you...." So why is it we often respond so negatively when the hand of correction comes into our life? I believe it has to do with our heart condition. We tend to believe we are right...all the time. When we do the wrong thing we tend to believe it doesn't affect anyone else and if no one finds out what is the difference? I love my children and in those days of "growing up" it wasn't so much I wanted them to do things my way as it was I wanted them to do things "rightly" or righteously. I wanted them to do things right in the sight of God. I loved them enough to care they grew up knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing.

So it is with God. He loves us so much He gave His only Son to die for our sins and it only makes sense He loves us enough to see to it we do the right things - not only because He is God and wants us to be righteous and holy, but because he knows what is best for us. He made us and understands us. When we find ourselves doing things that bring sin and harm into our lives, He cares and loves us enough to bring discipline into our lives. I love the analogy of a loving father and would recite the verse this way, "The Lord brings discipline into the lives of those in whom He delights!" God delights in His creation - YOU! Discipline calls us to attention. Discipline calls us to accountability. Discipline from God brings us into a place of character adjustment. God wants us to live life to the potential He created in us. But, for us to experience the God-potential within us we must experience the loving discipline of God.

It didn't happen overnight - it took a while. In fact, it took a few years into my adult life when I finally understood the discipline of my father was most often nothing more than a great big hug and an "I love you". At the time it was like hugging a cactus, but over time the sticker wounds healed and what remained was a better, wiser individual. Don't reject God's hugs - even if there are a few stickers at the time. In the long run you are better off.

You are loved, Pastor Roger