When Responding to Rebuke, Could You Actually Be Wrong This Time? |

March 29, 2022

When Responding to Rebuke, Could You Actually Be Wrong This Time?

2 Corinthians 2

Allie Adkins

Central Truth

When your response to correction or admonishment is defensiveness, take note and ask God to reveal any areas where you may be living in disobedience.

For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

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When I first look at this key verse (2 Corinthians 2:4), I see some great advice from Paul's example—when I'm offering correction or admonishment to someone, I should do it out of love and not out of a desire to cause them pain. But what does this look like when I'm on the receiving end of correction?

My gut instinct is defensiveness. I'm quick to convince myself that it's not me, in fact, who is wrong. They're the ones acting in anger or jealousy to cause me pain. They have an agenda. They've misinterpreted Scripture because they've allowed liberal or conservative media to influence them in a way that doesn't jive with my own notions of goodness and godliness.

I've experienced the most sanctification—the most change—in my walk with God when I pause and remember that this person may be approaching me from a position of abundant love. If that's true, I may actually be in the wrong. I may need to confess some sin and ask for forgiveness because I'm the one who has been unduly influenced by the culture around me. I remember that I am a sinner, so I ask questions and seek biblical truth. I turn to the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

How about when the correction comes from God? When I sin, I sometimes think that He's irritated or fed up. Surely He's angry with me for messing up again, right? This verse serves as a welcome reminder that, like Paul, God's correction does not come from a desire to cause me pain or take away good things. He corrects me out of an anguished heart because of the abundant love He has for me.

1. Have you received any correction lately that made you feel angry or defensive?

2. If you disagree with someone's admonishment of you, how can you engage with that person to better understand the correction?

3. How do you think your sin affects God's heart toward you?