Ever hear something that makes you look at things in a totally different way? That happened this morning.
I was happily going my merry way - okay, I was begrudgingly getting dressed on the last day of my Spring Break, when I started hearing things about the word correction. Now, I will be the first to admit that I am someone who does NOT like correction. It's not that I think I'm perfect, but no one likes to think they are downright wrong. That's when the random thoughts started turning.
It started with me thinking about all the times I had corrected students' work. I would literally spend hours and hours pouring over essays, writing comments, writing questions, writing encouragement - all in an effort to make the writers' work better. Not saying they were wrong, but really trying to help them be clear with their ideas. I would have a few that would read the things I had written and come to me to work on their writing. Those were the precious few...more often I would encounter - "So what is my grade?" or even worse, those that would argue with me as if I had no right to think their writing was anything other than perfect. (Have you ever read a 6th grader's writing - it almost always has potential, but it is rarely perfect.) After a while, I grew weary of trying only to be met with indifference or worse, defiance. I guess when it comes to writing, it's difficult to see correction as an attempt to make things better.
I never had that problem when it came to running. I was blessed to have a coach who saw in me something I could not and worked to bring it out. She would watch my running style and see what I was doing that was keeping me from becoming the runner she believed I could be. She would correct my posture, even my speed when I would try to go too fast, knowing I would burn myself out before I reached my potential. For some reason, I didn't see correction as a bad thing then. She was always right - able to see what I could not and using the experience I did not have.
My thoughts then moved to my son when he first started playing football. The first time he tried to tackle another player, he quickly learned that he needed to improve. He was given the directive to tackle a boy we later called, "the bowling ball with legs" and immediately bounced back from the would-be tackle onto his rear. He needed correction/instruction on his form. Thankfully he listened (being knocked back onto your rear has a way of doing that,) and he became quite the force to be reckoned with on the football field. Rarely did he try a tackle that didn't stop the opponent in his tracks and rarely was he successfully brought down by fewer than 3 or 4 players working together. Thinking about his personality now, I realize how thankful I am that God placed people in his life that he will listen to...because like most young men, he's almost always certain that he is right.
All these thoughts came together to help me see that I've been thinking of correction incorrectly all these years. (Yes, I see that wordplay.) Correction is not simply showing you where you wrong, but it is showing you how you can be better. It is not harsh, it is in fact loving. The Bible even says that.
Hebrews 12 puts it this way, "My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God?"
In Proverbs 15 it's put this way,
"Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise."
