When I was young I hated being corrected, not in the sense that I got mad or prideful, and was like "how dare they' but that I would allow that rebuke to crush my spirit. Correction used to be devastating to me, I would cry or tear up over almost any mistake I made when it was pointed out. I rarely argued back that I was in the right though, (at least until I became a teen) and usually accepted that I had done wrongly. I just hated to disappoint, I hated to mess up, and really desired to please those I respected and loved. I was fragile in that sense, and really took things to heart, I saw correction like punishment or failure, even when done lovingly.
This attitude, or behavior of being overly sensitive to correction lasted into adulthood. In my early twenties I still got upset and sometimes, tearing up occasionally, when I was corrected. I remember at one point a boss sat me down and told me in a private meeting that I had to learn not to take correction as a personal attack that I needed to see the good that could come out of it, and not be so sensitive. She said that I needed to look at correction differently, not as a failure, but as an area I needed to improve in. She said it was good that I became repentant and tried to do better after correction, but I that I had to stop letting it hurt me, it wasn't fair to myself or those who had corrected me.
I didn't understand then what she meant and I had no idea how to change my reactions to correction. But as time has gone on and I started to get to know God more my reactions are slowly changing. I am starting to learn how to shift my focus when I am corrected from how I failed, to what I can do better. I am learning to appreciate genuine loving correction because I know that the people doing this want to see me succeed. I am learning through God's word how correction is blessing, not meant to hurt or offend but to keep us on the path of righteousness and lead us into a closer relationship with our Father. Now I don't cry or tear up when I am corrected, I may still feel my flesh rise up in the sting of it, but I am learning to quickly turn that sting over to the Lord and let Him use it to guide me into better practices. I am learning to trust Him even in correction and accept the truth in of His word in verses like Hebrews 12:11, which says 'For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.' Because I am seeing it happen in my life.
As I accept correction with the right attitude and let it teach rather than wound I am discovering there is more peace in my soul, and I learn new things or ways of doing and being. I learn new strengths in myself that I never knew, and I find my way is made easier by obedience to the Lord. If you are like me and have struggled with correction I ask you to try to learn to look at the fruit of correction rather than the sting, give the hurt of it to the Father and let the correction change your course with the help of the Holy Spirit. Be blessed.
Proverbs 15:32
Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules
John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
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