Today, our discussion is: to correct others by love. Sometimes our dear brothers and sisters go or do something that should not be done by the children of God. As a followers of Jesus Christ, we should bring them back in the right direction. When we correct them, we should do so with love and humility. We should never be strict to correct someone.
Jesus Christ tells us that we should love each other. With this love, we should look at the spiritual life of our co-believer. When they need to be corrected, we should come to them with politeness and with love. We should never condemn or insult them while correcting.
From Jesus, we can learn how to correct others. He used to correct people with mercy and grace. When the woman caught in adultery was brought in front of him, he did not insult her but humbly said Never go back to sin. This is a perfect example to correct others. God is our judge, so when we correct someone, we should do it with the spirit of love and grace.
In Christ, we are all a family. As we love each other in a family and correct each other, we need to correct it with love in this spiritual family. By correction, we should never punish others, but we should aim so that they change and learn from mistakes. We are all on the journey of faith for the goal of eternal life. So, sometimes if any of us move away from this race, we should bring them back through love.
The main purpose of correcting others is to bring them back to God. If we correct it according to the way we taught it, it will cause blessings in our lives. Above all, we must have love between us, then we will succeed in this work.
Let’s look at the scriptures of the Bible below, where others have been told to correct in love.
Galatians 6:1 : —
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”
Ephesians 4:15 : —
“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ”
Proverbs 10:17 : —
“He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth”
Proverbs 12:1 : —
“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish”
Proverbs 15:31-32 : —
“The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wiseHe that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding”
Proverbs 17:10 : —
“A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool”
Proverbs 25:12 : —
“As an earring of gold, an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear”
Proverbs 27:5-6 : —
“Open rebuke is better than secret loveFaithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful”
Proverbs 9:8 : —
“Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, he will love thee”
James 1:19-20 : —
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrathFor the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God”
James 5:19-20 : —
“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, one convert himLet him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, shall hide a multitude of sins”
Colossians 3:16 : —
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching admonishing one another in psalms hymns spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”
Titus 3:2 : —
“To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men”
Hebrews 12:6 : —
“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”
Romans 15:14 : —
“I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another”
Psalm 141:5 : —
“Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities”
Matthew 7:3-5 : —
“Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; , behold, a beam is in thine own eye?Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye”