Proper Correction
God is the only one who always corrects people in the proper way. We can and should learn from Him, so that when we need to correct someone we will do it as much like Him as possible. Of course, God corrected Judah properly for their sins, so let's look to see what we can learn from what He did then. (Jeremiah 46:28) This verse contains the principles for proper correction.
God began by telling the people of Judah, "Do not fear." God does not correct His children to destroy them, but to make them more righteous. God assured Judah that He would bring an end to their enemies, but they would not come to a full end. They had no need to doubt God's love, because He always corrects in love and in mercy. However, having said that, God always punishes our sins. If He left us unpunished, we would not improve in our righteousness, but we would adopt more and more sinful thoughts and actions. The key is that He properly corrects us, so we are punished in just the right way to correct us from doing the wrong things, and we are taught just how to do the right things. The proper correction always contains both punishment and instruction. That should give us a good outline for how to correct anyone from our children to other believers and how to do it in a constructive way that honors the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 49-51.
God began by telling the people of Judah, "Do not fear." God does not correct His children to destroy them, but to make them more righteous. God assured Judah that He would bring an end to their enemies, but they would not come to a full end. They had no need to doubt God's love, because He always corrects in love and in mercy. However, having said that, God always punishes our sins. If He left us unpunished, we would not improve in our righteousness, but we would adopt more and more sinful thoughts and actions. The key is that He properly corrects us, so we are punished in just the right way to correct us from doing the wrong things, and we are taught just how to do the right things. The proper correction always contains both punishment and instruction. That should give us a good outline for how to correct anyone from our children to other believers and how to do it in a constructive way that honors the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 49-51.