latest THE CROSS DEVOTIONAL

When I shared with a friend how a church pastor had treated me very poorly, aggressively, hurtfully, and wrongly, and how he had not apologized, she told me a story about how the pastor at the church she used to attend had come up to her after a church service and apologized to her for how he had spoken to her about something. Though I don’t know if they ever agreed on what they had discussed, he had been led by the Lord to repent and to seek her forgiveness. Oh, how he must have had to humble himself to do so! He was a pastor. He was a man. He was much older than she was. He had mentored her. Now he had chosen to humble himself and say sorry.

One of the most precious blessings of having a deeply intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and being diligent in studying the Bible and being filled with and led by God’s Spirit is bittersweet. It’s the conviction of the Lord. The chastening of the Lord. The correction of the Lord. It can be so very hard to be shown by God’s Spirit when we are in the wrong. But how beautiful, what a blessing, He loves us so much He doesn’t want us to remain in our sin. He wants us in His close fellowship, and He wants us in fellowship and unity with and at peace with others. So He leads us to repentance over and again as He conforms us to Himself and teaches us to live according to His ways.

Let us not resist God’s correction. Let us respond to it with humility and repentance. And let us be thankful for His indescribably awesome love and mercy!