Unwilling to get corrected

Hardly anyone likes to be corrected. If someone points out our mistake, or tells us we should have done something differently, most people will get offended. Their spontaneous reaction will be to deny that what they did was wrong, or if they cannot get away with that, they will find excuses for their action or justify themselves in some way. This is a part of our fallen nature, and it doesn't go away when we get born again. When we decide to follow Jesus, we have to begin to train ourselves to overcome this tendency and admit our faults and mistakes (Lk.9:23). That is the only way we can allow the Holy Spirit to transform us to become like Jesus (Ro.8:13).

Once we come into this learning process we will discover how deeply this tendency is rooted in our flesh. We all long to be loved, accepted and appreciated by people, and to feel good about ourselves. That is the reason why we resist every time our faults get exposed. But just as doctors cannot treat us unless we tell them what our problem is, if we don't admit our sins, we cannot learn to overcome (1Jn.1:8). And just like unless we submit to the treatment, we cannot get healed mo matter how good the doctor is, we cannot become like Jesus by merely listening to the prescription.

The other thing our sinful flesh does is to focus our attention on what caused us the problem in the first place to which we reacted from our sinful nature. This appears to be very justifiable for us because what the situation or a person did to us is real. But we must understand this. God is not asking us to give an account of someone else's behaviour. He asks us only about our own behaviour. Remember, nothing that happens to us can justify us if we do anything sinful. Jesus did not deal with others in the way they treated Him (1Pe.2:23).

When other people do evil to us, we can receive a blessing from God if we respond in mercy, kindness and goodness (1Pe.3:8,9). This is true. It is not a mere nice idea, but God actually fulfils it. As a result of this blessing, we become spiritually healthy and wealthy.

But think what will happen if we refuse correction! It is not only that we won't get free from doing what we did wrong, but it will become a habit for us to justify ourselves and blame the others, it will harden our heart and our conscience, and grow bitterness towards others. We may even speak to other people about these others who have done wrong to us and also about those who tried to correct us. In this way we become agents of Satan passing on bitterness to other people (He.12:15). Instead of becoming agents bearing light and salt for the kingdom of God we become those who defile others.

If you have been born again, certainly this is not what you want to be. How important it is to learn to judge ourselves and purify and cleanse ourselves (1Co.11:31;1Jn.3:3;2Co.7:1)! Imagine what will happen if we don't take responsibility and leave everything to God? That is a dead faith.