CAN YOU TAKE CORRECTION?…OR, ARE YOU TOO PROUD? — Part 2

The View From Above: Thoughts To Help With Everyday Life

September 19, 2026

Pastor Paul Stephens

CAN YOU TAKE CORRECTION?…OR, ARE YOU TOO PROUD? — Part 2

Correction can come from any number of sources.

Almost anyone around us can see when something is wrong, needs adjustment, or correction.

Can they speak into your life?

A pastor recently told me his son told him, “Dad, you shouldn’t be texting when you drive.”

Oh yes!

Out of the mouth of babes…that young 9-year-old was exactly right; he corrected his father, and I believe he’ll think twice about texting while driving.

Correction can come from your wife, husband…a boss, a brother, or sister in the church.

It is all part of the activity of a healthy Body of Christ, functioning as it should against anything that may contribute to make you or the church unhealthy or preventing future problems or trying to steer you clear of potential danger.

I’ve always taken note of the Scripture in Jeremiah regarding the backslider.

Sometimes it’s life itself that rebukes us:

Jeremiah 2:19

“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.

That’s quite sharp and to the point.

I can’t count the number of backsliders who come back home to Jesus for that very reason.

Their backsliding hasn’t worked so well; their own decisions have rebuked and corrected them, as was the case with the prodigal son (Luke 15).

You have to be humble, sometimes very humble, to receive correction.

We get so invested in our narrative that we don’t want to back down.

Sometimes all we have in mind is ourselves and our own interests, and we are not properly thinking of others and the harm we may be doing to them and ourselves.

God is adamant on our need for correction…precisely because of His love for us.

Why do we discipline our children?…for the very same reason.

You can’t just allow them to engage in behavior that is harmful and disruptive.

We were created by God this way.

Mothers and fathers correct sons and daughters…and that process, in different ways as we grow, has to continue throughout our lifetime.

Hebrews 12:7–8

“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”

That is a very profound statement.

Correction is one of the ways love is connected to and expresses itself to our children.

If you don’t correct them, you are detached as though you are not their father or mother.

The point in all this being:

Let God help you…whether it’s life itself, a spouse, one of your children, a brother or sister in Christ, or a pastor or leader.

If we refuse correction, we drift and can end up harming ourselves, our families, and those around us.

Proverbs 15:31–33 NIV

“Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.”