Accepting Correction with Humility

READ: PROVERBS 15:31-33; HEBREWS 12:5-13 When we’ve done something wrong, and someone calls us out on it, what’s our response? Shrug it off? Refute their claims? Sink into shame or self-hatred? Or do we remind ourselves of our identity in Christ—as beloved, forgiven children of God—then take the time to think about what they’ve said and consider how to do better next time? Friends, we are—by nature—not very good at accepting correction. We can get so wrapped up in our anger, defensiveness, and hurt that we miss out on what loving correction is supposed to be—a nudge onto a better path. As I put it to my youth group a few weeks ago, “Humility is in short supply.” God puts people in our lives to encourage and support us, and also to call us out when we’re missing the mark or wandering down the wrong path. There are plenty of examples in the Bible. Apollos didn’t have the full picture of the gospel, so Priscilla and Aquila explained God’s ways to him more fully in Acts 18:...