I lead worship at RedHOP tonight. It was awesome. I didn't plan on it, but I was willing and able, so I did it. I had several intercessors, and some people who hadn't had a chance to hear my music finally got to hear it.
There's a little something that's been on my mind today. The father loves us. Sometimes because he loves us, he has to correct us.
Sometimes when correction comes, we don't always see it as loving. There are times when it doesn't come across as loving at all, and that's a problem.
God loves us and accepts us as we are. But God is not going to keep us the same. Correction is going to come. Sometimes, even when it comes from other people in a loving way, because of past experiences, we may perceive it as unloving. If you've had issues with your own father, this could cause that. Father's are generally the ones in the family who do most of the correction for their children. That's not to say the mother doesn't bring correction to the children, but generally the father has a more active role in correction and discipline.
Some of you who are reading this right now have probably received correction, and you may have disagreed with it. Think about it though, even if you didn't agree with it, the correction that that person brought you was likely out of love. You may not have realized it was out of love.
As Christians, we are supposed to submit to authority. Sometimes authority brings correction. That's part of their job. As Christians, we should always obey authorities we have in our lives unless those authorities are telling us to go against the written word of God. Sometimes, authority will bring correction, and we don't like it, yet they're not telling us to do anything that goes against God. It gets difficult. But you know what? Real submission doesn't begin until there's disagreement. Even if you don't like what the authority above you is telling you to do, you should do it.
If you've had a father who wasn't so loving, you will probably have issues with authority. I know I have. The only thing that kept it from being worse in my life than what it has been was the fact that God had placed other father figured in my life. Even with those father figures in my life, because my earthly father, at times, didn't give discipline in a loving way, it helped lead me to be rebellious at certain times in my life. Now my father loved me, and I know that. But he wasn't perfect. So there were times I was rebellious against others who were authorities in my life.
The teachings of Jack Frost have helped me understand how our heavenly Father loves us. Our earthly father is supposed to be a representation of our heavenly father. However, because our earthly fathers mess up, we have a skewed view of God. So it's important to let the father part of the trinity love you.
The teachings of John Brevere (not sure if I spelled that right) on submission and obedience have also been important to me. But submission is difficult until you experience the father's love.
But with the father loving you, you will be changed. Correction does come. And often times, that correction doesn't seem loving. But when we accept that correction, we find that correction is needed.
If you see someone doing drugs or something irresponsible, you should love them. But at some point, correction needs to be brought if you really love them. You don't just leave them alone and let them stay addicted if you're their friend and you love them. There's correction for much larger and much smaller problems too. The correction is done out of love.
Now there are some people who try to bring correction, out of love, but it may not be what you need. If you're not under their authority, you don't have to obey them in most situations. OK if I'm in the middle of the road, and someone who I'm not under the authority of tells me to get out of the road because of the mack truck that's about to hit me, I'm probably going to get out. That's common sense. But if someone who I'm not under the authority of tells me that I should wear purple socks on Tuesdays, I'm probably not going to obey him, especially considering the fact I don't have purple socks.
Sometimes, even people who you're not under the authority of will bring correction to you, and they need to, and you're not going to like it. And there's times you should listen to that person. The Bible does tell us to submit to one another.
Submission does not mean 100% obedience. When authority tells us to go against the written word of God, we're not to obey that. We should keep a submissive attitude. Submission is an attitude, not necessarily obedience. Obedience (as long as the command doesn't go against God) comes out of submission. And when someone does tell you to do something that goes against God's word, you respectfully let them know you can't do that. Practice civil disobedience in that case.
These are just some thoughts I've had for a long time (years now) and I just felt the need to post them. And from my experience in keeping a submissive attitude, I have been blessed. I'm not trying to hold anyone to the letter of the law on this. Just think about it, and perhaps put it to practice in your own life. Try having a submissive attitude and accept correction when needed in your own life. If you do, I think you'll see blessings in your own life that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
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