God Corrects Those He Loves

All through the Bible we find God correcting His children and guiding them in the way they should go. What loving father would not correct his child who was doing the wrong thing and heading down the wrong pathway? Throughout the Old Testament, we find God rebuking and correcting His people who kept being led astray by the surrounding Pagan nations. God loves us and corrects those He loves. So we should expect and welcome correction from our Heavenly Father.

Hebrews 12:6-8 ...'For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.'

If you are able to take correction from God, then that shows you to be His child and He will deal with you as His child, but if you are not willing to take correction, and you believe you are right in everything you do, then you are not a child of God.

Proverbs 3:11 ...'My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction.'

Now one of the reasons I added this page is because there are many professing Christians who will not take rebuke or correction for something wrong in their lives. They will instantly go on the defensive and accuse the other person who is correcting them of "judging". We need to realize that God uses different ways to correct someone. He can use our conscience to make us realize that we are doing something wrong, or He can use people to correct and rebuke. If a Christian who knows the truth of God's Word sees another brother or sister in Christ doing wrong, should he not correct that brother or sister? Take a look at the following Bible verse from Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 3:20-21 ...'Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.'

If we just let someone continue in sin, which is what many professing Christians do these days, because they are afraid to "judge" that person, then we will be guilty and held accountable to God for the sin of that person. But if we warn and rebuke and correct that person in the wrong, then as it says in Ezekiel above, even though that person dies in sin, we are not held accountable because we WARNED him about it.

Don't get me wrong, we are not to go bashing that person over the head with a stick, instead we must approach any fellow Christian with love and compassion, and talk to them and warn them in a loving way, and show them from God's Word why they are doing wrong.

Unfortunately the Bible reveals that many will not receive correction:

Proverbs 15:10 ...'Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.'

Jeremiah 7:28 ...'But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.'

The world (including professing Christians) is even now conditioned to criticize those who expose evil in their lives ... 2 Timothy 3:2-3 ...'For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good.'

The reason many professing Christians will not receive correction is because if they did then they would have to give up the many worldly things in their lives, and these worldly pleasures are just too precious for many to give up. And the reason that these worldly pleasures are so precious to them, is because they are not focusing on living a life with Jesus. The things of this world are nothing compared to what God has in store for us. God corrects those He loves, but do you love God enough to accept His correction?

When correcting someone, we must remember to correct and warn them according to God's Word, not by what we think is right, but by the Word of God. But be warned, if you rebuke or correct someone just to make yourself look better, then I urge you to rethink about your motive. The reason to warn or correct someone is to bring them back to God, out of love for them.

James 5:20 ...'Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.'

Let us get right with Jesus. Let us serve Him and follow Him every day, and give our all for Him. Let us reach out to those who are lost and help bring those who have fallen into sin back to God by showing them the truth of His Word. But let us not refuse to be corrected ourselves, because we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to show us the right way to live and serve Him, and He wants to correct those He loves for their own good.

Revelation 3:19 ...'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.'