Tag Archives: correction

January 10, 2024 · 5:48 AM

Responding To Correction

A few years ago I got a call from a friend who wanted to tell me she had been promoted to Assistant Manager of a store. I told her I was excited for her and scheduled a time to visit her. When I showed up, her enthusiasm had waned. She told me how a sales rep asked to meet with her in the office. He walked in and sat in the manager’s desk chair forcing her to sit on the other side. He then told her how there was nothing she could teach him. He said that he didn’t want her to offer him help during his sale, he didn’t want to be coached and that she just needed to stay out of his way. She asked what to do. I told her you can’t force someone to learn or to grow. I advised that she give as much value as she could to the other reps to help them improve as much as possible. We also discussed how to handle the disrespect.

After King David’s plan failed to cover his sin with Bathsheba, and he had her husband killed, he thought the situation was over. However, God wasn’t finished with it. In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan visited David to tell him a story. When the king’s anger raged at the man in the story, Nathan simply said, “You are the man!” David’s immediate response was repentance instead of defending. He penned Psalm 51 after this encounter as a prayer seeking God to change his heart. ”Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me“ (AMP). He still suffered the consequence of his sin, but he also continued to have God’s blessings because he received correction.

Proverbs 9:8 says, ”Do not correct a scoffer [who foolishly ridicules and takes no responsibility for his error] or he will hate you; Correct a wise man [who learns from his error], and he will love you.“ Which of these two men do you identify with when it comes to correction, learning and growth? Since no one is perfect, everyone is able to be corrected. When correction comes, we tend to defend ourselves or attack the person trying to help us as a defense mechanism. However, a wise person sees feedback and correction as a gift to make us better. The Holy Spirit will convict our heart when we sin in an effort to lead us to repentance or use someone else to get his message across. Will you be foolish and take no responsibility or like the wise who learns from his error? How we respond to correction exposes what’s hidden in our heart.

Photo by Aravind Vijayan on Unsplash

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June 5, 2017 · 5:25 AM

Living Well


When I’m going through a certification at work, part of what I’m graded on is my ability to accept, receive and implement feedback. After I finish my part, I have to stand in front of a room of my peers and get feedback publicly. One of the hardest things to do is to not respond with, “But I did that,” or “My intent was…” Even if I disagree with the corrections, I have to come back the next day and implement them into my presentation. When I’m done with that one, the process starts over.

I can tell you that this process of receiving corrections and having to implement them has made me better at my job. It’s not easy to hear someone offer corrections to what you do. It’s even more difficult to change what you do based on their feedback. However, I’ve learned that advice given from another perspective is often what I need to get to my next level. If I keep doing things the way I’ve always done them, I’ll never improve. 

King Solomon, the wisest person to ever live, understood this. Even though he had more understanding than anyone on the planet, he still valued advice and correction. In Proverbs 19:20 he penned, “Take good counsel and accept correction— that’s the way to live wisely and well” (MSG). You are never too smart, too wise or too good that you won’t need counsel or correction. Those who hear it, accept it and implement it will live wisely and well.

How well do you receive advice or correction? I can tell you it doesn’t come natural to us, but it is something we each need to adopt into our lives. Some of the greatest leaders I’ve worked for routinely stopped their process to invite advice or correction. They didn’t pretend to have it all figured out, nor did they continue down a path because that was what was successful last time. Inviting other people to give us advice, without explaining our reasoning back, accepting their advice and implementing will be difficult, but it’s the path to living well.

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May 19, 2016 · 1:27 AM

Pride And Correction


I went to small, Christian, high school with a graduating class of 16 students. During my senior year, as I would walk down the hall, I would jokingly yell out, “Out of the way, underclassmen! There’s a senior coming through.” It got to the point I had one of the underclassmen walk in front of me and do it for me. We would laugh and I would tell him, “Thanks for showing your proper respect.” We would then go to our classes and do it again after the next bell.

One afternoon a teacher pulled me aside and said, “I’ve been hearing you call out for people to get out of your way and I don’t like it or think it’s funny. In fact, I believe it’s the sin of pride.” I was shocked and embarrassed. I started to push back and said, “It’s just a joke.” He told me, “It’s not really a joke. I’ve watched you over the years and this isn’t you. You’re losing the respect of others, including myself. Pride is serious.”

I had a choice to make. I could tell him he was overreacting and keep on doing it or I could listen to his correction in love and change. I thought about it all night before I prayed, “God, if by doing this I’m committing the sin of pride, I ask you to forgive me and help me to be humble.” I didn’t do it again, and I even stopped the underclassman from doing it for me. I explained I was wrong, that I asked God to forgive me, and that I was sorry I got him involved. It was humbling to be corrected so boldly, but it was necessary to my future.

It’s not fun being corrected by someone else, especially when you’re on the wrong. Everything in you wants to fight back, justify your actions, and to keep doing it out of spite. That’s not God’s plan though. Proverbs 10:17 says, “People who listen when they are corrected will live, but those who will not admit that they are wrong are in danger” (GNT). We all are in need of correction from time to time. What really important is how we respond to it. I may not like it when I’m corrected, but if I’m wise, I’ll listen to it and correct my ways. That’s God’s plan for each of us. None of us are above correction, but all of us have a choice in how we respond to it.

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September 25, 2013 · 7:30 AM

Caring Enough To Correct

In college I started a Friday night event on my wing called “Midnight Monopoly”. It was a leisure outlet for those of us who didn’t work or have other entertainment to make fete of an otherwise boring evening. It was always a fun time.

One night two roommates joined the game; as we played, one made an innocent joke about the other. It was not received well, however, and the other guy spitefully and openly countered with the sharpest, crudest remark he could muster. Everyone quickly overlooked the comment, but I sat there appalled. I was the wing chaplain and decided to let it pass and confront the guy once the game ended.

In my room with him, I addressed the comment—how ugly and unchristian it was and expressed to his own roommate and spiritual brother. How could he say such a thing? I explained that he needed to apologize and simply repent. I wasn’t trying to be a dad, but it sure felt like it. The comment had offended and angered me.

Well he didn’t like it. He left abruptly and said nothing to me for two weeks—that is until a knock at my door one evening. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” He explained that he had thought very much about what I had said to him and felt convicted. He acknowledged his wrong and thanked me for having the courage to challenge him. He also stated that he had apologized to his roommate.

The Profitability of Correction

Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Challenging others is never easy, even when done lovingly. Some people let offenses and bad behavior go unchallenged rather than making folk accountable for them. But this is wrong and unloving.

It is a false conception to think we can become successful or mature individuals, even good Christians, if we fail to submit to correction. Accountability safeguards character by cultivating wholesome traits and challenging negative ones. A mode of accountability, correction is essential to personal growth and also God’s plan for us. Being non-teachable and prideful, however, causes us to miss valuable lessons and costs us in the end.

Hosea graphically expresses the need for correction and repentance: “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us” (6:1-2, NASB). Here is the idea of purposely wounding, perhaps to set a fracture or to clean away infection.

And sometimes we don’t see that our lives have defect or fester with some sin. So seeking accountability is a positive and proactive move to ensure integrity and godliness. Moreover, godly reproof is a grace and sign of God’s ownership. We should welcome it and not resist it, lest we accept the charge of Hebrews 12:8—“you are not legitimate children at all.”

The wing mate I confronted serves the Lord today around the globe sharing the love of Jesus with orphans and the distressed. I consider what I did a small but necessary part of preparing him for the ministry he performs today.

What might we be leaving untended in the lives of others God is burdening us to correct? And are you asking the Lord to reveal the places in your life in need of correction? Just own enough humility whether you’re correcting or being corrected. It helps to remember Jesus’s words that we bear abundant fruit when we are pruned (John 15:2).

This guest post is from Mike Stephens. Mike is the author of “A ‘Mike’ for Christ“, a devotional blog featuring thoughtful, topical discussion and spiritual reflection.

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