Topic: The Father’s Correction [Joseph Prince Devotional 31 March 2021]

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The Father’s Correction

For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Proverbs 3:12 NLT

Let me teach you how to test every doctrine, teaching, and scriptural interpretation. Just ask yourself—how is our Lord Jesus valued in this teaching?

Does it make you want to worship, praise, and glorify the Lord Jesus with your life? Or does it put more value on you and what you have to perform? Does it cause you to be centered on and occupied with the person of Jesus? Or does it cause you to be centered on and occupied with yourself and whether you have failed or succeeded?

Pastor Prince, are you saying that performance is unimportant?

Absolutely not! I am sharing with you that the key to performance comes by the power of His love, grace, and unmerited favor in your life! You will be able to perform when you know you are perfectly loved.

Look at children who are bold, confident, and secure. They come from families that are full of love and affirmation. Families that free them to succeed. These children are not afraid to fail and they stand out in the crowd because they dare to be different for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

They dare to say no to the influences of the world. They are not ashamed when their peers mock their Christian values. At the same time, in an environment of love, grace, and affirmation, the child’s parents are also able to discipline, correct, and guide the child in learning to make good decisions for himself without crushing his spirit.

Some people have the erroneous idea that when you are under grace, there is no correction and every and anything goes. There are those who argue that if we are indeed always highly favored by the Lord, then there is no need for Him to correct and to discipline us.

My dear friend, let me help you understand it from the perspective of a parent. When my kids do something wrong, Wendy and I certainly correct and discipline them. But in our hearts they are always loved and favored by us even when they have failed and even while being corrected by us.

Why? Simply because they are our children! No matter how they perform, we will always love them and they will always be favored in our hearts.

How highly favored they are to us is a matter of their identity, not their performance. It is based on who they are and whose they are, not what they have or have not done.

In the same way, our state of being loved and favored by our Father in heaven is a result of our identity as the sons and daughters of God through the finished work of Jesus Christ. We can call God our Father and God can call us His children because of what Jesus has done on the cross on our behalf!

As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, He will correct, discipline, and guide us. But it is vital for you to know that our Lord will never correct us with tragic accidents, sicknesses, and diseases.

Today’s scripture says, “For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” In other words, the Lord corrects those whom He highly favors, just as an earthly father would correct a child he loves.

Would a father correct a child in whom he delights by inflicting pain and suffering on that child? Of course not!

In the same way, our heavenly Father corrects us not by inflicting pain and suffering but with His Word (2 Tim. 3:16). Correction may come through the preaching of His Word, or through godly leaders whom He surrounds you with in a local church, leaders who love you and who care enough to speak into your life.

The truth is, when people know that their heavenly Father loves them, they can receive correction and discipline with gratitude and humility. That is why it is so important for every child of God to experience the grace revolution—to become established in His perfect love and anchored in His unconditional grace toward them.

Grace imparts to us the power to perform and to live a life above defeat. Grace is the key to holiness.