“Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.” Revelation 3:19 NIV
“Applause you do not deserve will not benefit you as much as correction you need.”
My thoughts today are about “loving correction.”
I don’t think there is anyone who really enjoys correction. The reason surely could not be because any of us think that we are always correct – never wrong and never needing correction. Still, not many welcome being corrected; sometimes, most don’t even appreciate that occurring when it could be beneficial.
I don’t remember ever thanking my Dad and Mom, or my teachers, or others for their rebuke or discipline. But I readily recognize today how much I was helped by their caring enough to do so, and I am thankful to them. The Bible says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 NIV. Do I get an Amen? The New Living Translation of the following verse essentially says, “So get a grip!”
You may wrongly assume that if someone loves you, they won’t get after you. The opposite is true. Indulgence of wrong to your inevitable harm and loss is not an evidence of love at all. Quite the contrary! Love is the very reason that correction is required. Nor should correction ever be separated from love. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into . . Christ!” Ephesians 4:15 NIV. Truth that transforms and empowers you is only and always spoken in the language of love. The Bible teaches that a “father encourages, comforts, and urges you to live a life worthy of God who calls you . .” Read 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NIV.
Jesus gives us His instruction and example in today’s words, “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.” Who would ever doubt Jesus’ love? Someone who would die for your sins can certainly be trusted to address them with you. To refuse His rebuke and discipline is to refuse to accept His love. Jesus doesn’t stop loving you when you do wrong; you stop letting Him love you in any meaningful way when you refuse His gentle and accurate rebuke.
The Bible asks a simple question, the correct answer of which is obvious, “What son is not disciplined by his father?” Hebrews 12:7-9 NIV. The very title and position of father assumes a real relationship of loving discipline, in spite of the glaring failures of some to be loving at all, or negligent to rebuke and correct even when most needed.
Applause that you do not deserve will not benefit you nearly as much as correction that you need. “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.” Hebrews 12:10 NIV. In various Bible versions the word is translated as chastening, rebuke, discipline, and correction. The Greek word of Hebrews 12 is paideia, meaning “the entire realm of a father’s instruction and correction.” There is not a hint of meanness, harshness, or unfairness in that word, nor in the loving correction of a true and Godly father. It is not a good thing to ever be without loving correction.
My prayer for you today is: embrace loving correction and be better than you would be.