𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• When giving advice, do you hold back a little or say everything in that moment? Why?

• Have you ever received correction for a mistake you committed? How did you respond?

• How do you apologize to someone you hurt? What are some things you did to gain back their trust?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯! 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, ‘𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘜𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴.” 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟳–𝟵

(Read also 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟭–𝟲; 𝟭𝟬–𝟭𝟰.)

Being part of a community not only means receiving encouragement from others, but also being open to correction. In fact, godly correction is essential so that we can be brought back to God and continue to live in His ways. Even David, who is considered as one of Israel’s greatest kings, had to be corrected from a sinful action so that he could be restored and live for God again. Today, let’s look at what the Bible says about giving and receiving correction.

𝟭. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 . . . “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯! 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, ‘𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘭.’” 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟭, 𝟳

The prophet Nathan could have cowered in fear at the thought of rebuking or giving correction to the King of Israel, but he spoke in obedience to God. Through a story, Nathan helped David come to a conclusion about right and wrong, and then courageously gave the correction about David’s sin (2 Samuel 12:9). When God places us in situations to correct others, we can ask Him to give us courage to do so out of love. God can use those moments to point others to Him. Recall a time when you received godly correction. How was it different from other kinds of correction?

𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝘆.

𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, “𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯; 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦.” 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟭𝟯

(Read also 𝗣𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗠 𝟱𝟭.)

David, even though he was king, chose to be humble, realizing the error of his ways. Instead of being bitter like his predecessor Saul, David understood the weight of his actions and accepted the consequences. Because of this, he was not put to death immediately, which gave him a chance to make up for his sinful act. Just like David, we can choose to receive correction from a position of humility. Though we are not perfect, God can work in our hearts when we allow others to correct and discipline us. Think of a time when you had a hard time accepting correction at first. How were you able to move forward from how you felt initially?

𝟯. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟮𝟬

(Read also 𝟮 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟮:𝟮𝟭–𝟮𝟯.)

Rather than dwell on what he did wrong, David remembered God’s goodness. In the midst of the dark time he was in and the correction he received, he trusted God’s discipline and gave glory to God. It was God’s way of creating in David a 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 and renewing 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 in him (Psalm 51:10, 12). In moments where shame and guilt may seem overwhelming, we can look to God knowing that He is restoring our hearts and renewing our minds to follow His ways. How did your relationship with someone who corrected you grow? How was your trust in one another strengthened?

God’s heart is always at work to restore those who have sinned and strayed from His ways. Ultimately, He brought David back to right standing with Him (2 Samuel 12:24–25). That same restoration is made available to us today through David’s descendant, Jesus, who sacrificed Himself to cleanse us from our sins and bring us back to a right relationship with God.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• Is there someone in your life who will speak to you and correct you out of love? How will you respond when you receive correction?

• Is God calling you to courageously and humbly correct someone? What are some practical ways you can do this as Nathan did with King David?

• How can you help the next generation love God and do away with sin? What are some things you can do this week to accomplish this?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for sending people to give you godly correction as a way of molding and shaping you for His purposes.

• Ask God to guide you when you go through discipline or correction. Pray that you would focus on His goodness instead of your shortcomings.

• Ask God to give you courage to speak up and correct in love when needed.