I noticed something curious in an exchange between my wife and my daughter recently. The way my wife was addressing my daughter, how she was correcting her and scolding her, she would never do with another adult. Especially as a pastor’s wife, she is very careful about how she words and watches even the tone of her voice lest she offends someone (an adult). But when she is dealing with her daughter, she’s far more direct. But here’s the kicker. Our daughter cries and sometimes even pouts, but only a moment later, she’s sitting next her mom being silly as if nothing happened. Now, if Janet yelled at and corrected an adult in our church like that, I doubt that we will ever see that person again…!

What gives? A child is humble. Therefore, she can be rebuked and corrected, and she may not like it for the moment, but she knows intuitively that she doesn’t have it all together. She readily acknowledges that an adult knows more and better. In other words, she is teachable. But we dare not take that approach with an adult. Often we will just resort to, “Well, that’s just him. Leave him be. Why say anything when it’s just going to turn into a fight?” And we give up.

A great person is not someone who is so well put-together that he doesn’t need much correction. Rather, a great person is someone who readily acknowledges that he is full of faults and accepts corrections gladly.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:4

How correctable are you? How well do you take it? Do you immediately think of the faults of the one correcting you when being corrected? Do you try to defend yourself with long excuses? Do you sulk and seethe on the inside?

You deserved death and hell because you are evil.
You are worse than (or at least equal to) the person you despise the most right now.
Even the good things you’ve done, you’ve done for yourself and passed it off to others as if you are truly good.
You lie and you justify it.
You think your sins are somehow less evil than other people’s sins.
You forgive yourself infinitely but would hardly forgive others more than once for the same sin.
You excuse your behaviors that you would never excuse in others.

And yet, Christ gave His precious life for a scum like you (and me)!

So, why is a little correction so stinging? Why does it hurt you so much when someone doesn’t think you are perfect by correcting you?

Learn from your own children. (If you don’t have one, well, get to know one! =))

PH